A Deal's a Deal
by Pointeofdance
Summary: Amy Pond died when Dean stabbed her, but now, 500 years later, she's joining the crew of Serenity under the name of Kaylee Fyre. What is her story and how did she get there? Read to find out… Amy Pond from the Supernatural episode "Girl Next Door" and Kaylee Fyre both played by Jewel Staite. What if the characters were the same?
1. The Aftermath

**Hello people! *runs from angry followers* Okay, so I know that I promised a different story to be out by mid July and it's now August, but this one wouldn't leave me alone! Originally, I had planned for this to be a sort of continuation of that story(a Doctor Who/Supernatural crossover dealing with the two Amy's), but this just worked so much better by itself. I hope you enjoy!**

Amy awoke with a gasp. She looked around in confusion. She was in a bed, in the motel room she had gotten when she and Jacob ran. She remembered everything that had happened. She remembered her encounter with Sam and him leaving her alone after discovering about her son. She remembered running and finding Dean in her motel room. She remembered him stabbing her and falling down. She reached down and looked at her stomach. She couldn't hold in the small gasp that escaped her lips when she saw the large bloodstain on her stomach. She lifted her shirt up, but there wasn't even a mark.

"Am I in purgatory?" She wondered. Something didn't sit right with her. She wasn't human. She didn't have a soul that would go to heaven. She would go to Purgatory like every other monster out there, but when she imagined it, she always imagined something hell-like. An old motel room certainly wasn't that. She turned as the door opened.

"Mom?" A small voice asked.

"J- Jacob?" She stuttered.

She felt a grin work it's way over her face as he ran towards her with a large smile on his face. He jumped onto the bed and gave her a large hug. He buried his face in her hair and she felt a single tear run down her face.

"You're alright," he murmured.

"What happened?" Amy asked, confused. She had been positive that Dean had gotten her in the heart. As a Kitsune, she was able to heal more quickly and survive more than a human, but she shouldn't have been able to survive a direct stab to the heart.

Jacob hesitated before answering. "The man barely missed your heart. I thought that you were dead. I ran to you and realized that you were barely breathing. I called an ambulance- you always said that so long as we didn't show our claws or eyes, we seem the same as humans, right? Well, it worked and they saved you. I got lucky. The room they put you in was on the first floor. Once they said that your condition was stable enough to be moved, I knew that I had to work fast before they moved you to a higher floor. I... Umm... I dragged you out the window. This place is only two blocks from the hospital so I managed to make my way back. This was two days ago. I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up or not."

"And you did all this by yourself?" Amy asked. Her son was only eight after all. This seemed like way to big of an accomplishment for him to achieve, even with some of the emergency situation things she had taught him.

Again with the hesitation.

"Yes," he said said firmly.

Amy was still doubtful, but she was happy to be alive and have her son with her so she ignored it.

* * *

"Jacob! You're going to miss the bus if you don't hurry!" Amy called through their new house a few months later. Things had been going well for them. She had changed their names to Amy and Jacob Williams. Not as nice as Pond in her opinion, but they needed the anonymity. She got the license plate on her car changed (she wouldn't forget that again) and even managed to find a job at the local hospital working in the morgue. All in all, things were working out well.

Jacob had started school as a fourth grader. It was a higher grade then he should be in, but he was a smart kid so they decided to just say that he was ten already. She found it interesting that after her near death experience, he had started to throw himself into more things. He was always trying to learn as much as he could, eager to get his hands on any book he could find. He also started Karate, saying that if somebody threatened her again, he wanted to be ready. Amy had sat down and given a firm talking to that if he ever met another hunter, he should run as fast as he could in the other direction. However, she couldn't ignore his plea to at least learn how to defend himself if it should come to that. Jacob had also started spending as much time as he possibly could with her. In hindsight, it probably wasn't that odd. She had nearly been taken from him at such a young age now he felt the need to spend every moment with her. He had convinced her to get a good camera to document their time together.

Back to the present, Jacob ran down the stairs, jumping down the last couple. He swung the backpack laying by the door onto his back.

"Bye Mom!" He said cheerfully as he gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Remember, you have Karate after school today," she reminded him.

"I know!" He said brightly before running out the door to catch the bus.

Amy sighed in happiness as the door closed behind him. She really had ended up with the best son in the world.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the doorbell ringing. She went to answer and opened the door to a man in a suit. He had a sneaky sort of look about him, but fancy at the same time. A business man.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"I just came to see how you were doing," the man said in an English accent

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Amy asked. She was sure that she had never seen this man before.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Crowley. I helped your son on that dreadful night," the man introduced himself, offering his hand. Amy shook it gratefully before exclaiming.

"I knew he was hiding something from me! There was no way he was able to get me from the hospital back to the hotel room by himself! He must not have wanted to admit that he had gotten help from some random man. I don't know why you helped Jacob, but thank you."

Amy missed Crowley's raised eyebrow when she mentioned the hospital, but no other expressions made it onto his face except for slight amusement.

"Well, I had been in a couple situations myself where I could use a hand to get away from the officials," he said with a smirk.

Amy froze as a thought occurred to her.

"I'm not a hunter if that's what you're worried about," Crowley said, relieving her of her worries. "I know about the things in this world, but I don't care for getting my hands dirty."

"Well thank you again," Amy said sincerely. "Would you like to come in? I can make a good cup of tea or I have soda and stuff if that's more what you're into."

"A good cuppa wouldn't go unappreciated," Crowley said, nodding. She led him into the house and had him sit down on the sofa as she went to put the kettle on. The "art" of English tea making had been passed down through her family. When it was ready, she poured two cups and walked back to the living room. She handed a cup to Crowley who took a sip and hummed appreciatively.

"Now here's an American who can actually make tea. I might need to come over more often," he joked.

"My great great grandmother was Scottish and her husband was English. They made sure that my grandmother always remembered her roots, even if my mother didn't really follow them. I was named after her, my great great grandmother."

"The tea making skills were certainly preserved," Crowley said, saluting her with his cup. Idle chatter continued through the day. Crowley was especially interested to hear about her encounters with the Winchester brothers, who he had apparently met before. She didn't even realize how late it had gotten until she heard the door open.

"I'm home!" Jacob called.

"I'm in here, Sweetie!" Amy called. Jacob walked casually into the living room but froze when he saw Crowley.

"Hello, young man," Crowley said calmly, getting up from his spot.

"You didn't tell me that Mr. Crowley helped you," Amy reprimanded her son. "I wouldn't have been mad if you told me that you had help getting me out of the hospital."

Jacob relaxed marginally when she spoke but he wouldn't take his eyes off Crowley. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you and your mum were nice, safe, and alive," Crowley said.

"Well, we're fine," Jacob said stiffly.

"Jacob, what's the matter with you?" Amy asked, appalled that her son would treat a guest, especially one that had helped them so much in the manner that he was.

"It's alright," Crowley said. "I should be leaving anyway. I wouldn't want to spoil your time together."

Was it her imagination, or had Jacob gotten even tenser with that last sentence?

"Thank you for stopping by," Amy said warmly as she walked Crowley towards the door.

"Thank you for the tea," he said. "Maybe I'll see you around some time?"

"Maybe. Don't know how long we're staying here, but anytime you're around, feel free to stop by," Amy said with a smile.

"I might take you up on that," Crowley said with a smirk.

* * *

It was Jacob's fifteenth birthday when she saw Crowley again. They had moved to a new town and lied about Jacob's age again so he was beginning his senior year next fall. He had advanced so far academically that anything less than the senior year curriculum would bore him. Throw in a couple college classes on the side and you had one satisfied boy. Amy was a bit worried about her sons workload, especially at a young age, but he had insisted saying "Why wait when life is so short?". She agreed wholeheartedly.

This particular summer afternoon found the two of them at the park, having their own private celebration for Jacob. They were having a lovely time. She was so thankful that she never had to deal with the pouty teenage years, at least so far. Her son was not afraid to be seen with her in public. Although, to be honest, they were starting to look a bit like brother and sister. She didn't remember her own mother aging this well, but she wasn't complaining.

"Well what is this little love fest I've stumbled onto?" An accented voice asked behind them in amusement.

"Mr. Crowley!" Amy exclaimed, jumping up from the bench they were sitting on while Jacob remained sitting, glaring at his hands. "It's good to see you! How have you been?"

"Fair enough," Crowley shrugged.

"How did you find us?" Jacob asked. Amy wanted to reprimand him for his tone, but couldn't doubt the validity of his question.

Crowley chuckled. "When you work in the business I do, it makes it simple to track the people you invest in."

"What business is that? I never got to ask," Amy questioned.

"I deal with some... rarer items," Crowley said and Jacob snorted.

"I've heard of people who do things like that," Amy agreed, thinking of that Bella girl she had come across once.

"An interesting job, to be sure," Crowley said. "But I didn't come here to talk about work. I came here to wish you a happy birthday, Jacob."

Jacob looked up in surprise. "What? Why would you come here for that?"

Crowley shrugged. "I don't know. It's been nearly five years since we met. Imagine, in another five, it will be ten."

"I know how to do math, thank you," Jacob muttered.

"Yes, I've heard you're quite the child prodigy," Crowley said with a smirk. "Good on you."

"Life's to short," Jacob retorted.

"That it is," Crowley agreed. He pulled a book that looked to be a journal from the inside of his jacket and held it towards Jacob who took it hesitantly. "Happy birthday."

Amy tried to read the front, but to her confusion, it looked like it was in Chinese.

"I can't read Chinese," Jacob said in confusion.

"Then learn," Crowley said. "Believe me, you would love what's in that book."

"Thanks?" Jacob tried, but it was more of a question than anything else.

"Not a problem. I'll see you two sometime," Crowley said before walking off, whistling.

* * *

The year after Jacob graduated high school, he and Amy spent traveling the world. He was happy with the knowledge that he had a full ride to Harvard, where he would like to eventually get into their medical school, waiting for him when they got back.

Jacob adored college. He got into the Harvard Medical School, one of the best in the nation, at only seventeen. It was for reasons like this that Amy was completely astonished when Jacob decided to take the fall semester off after his first year in the medical program. Not only did he do that, but he decided to live at home as well and moved all of his stuff back to the small house she was renting outside of Boston. When she asked him about it, he just said that he wanted to spend more time with her and that's just what happened. Every other day, they were going to the park, or ice skating, or to the movies. The things he thought of were endless. Amy had been suspicious at first, but after a month or so of this sort of treatment, she fell into a routine that she thoroughly enjoyed.

That was, until his eighteenth birthday. The day had started off normally. They had gotten into the habit of going to the park every year after his fifteenth birthday. Most years, Crowley stopped by. On Jacob's sixteenth, Jacob was considerably more relaxed than on Crowley's previous visits, even thanking him profusely for the Chinese book that Crowley had given him the year before. The only time that Amy could see the previous tension that existed between the two was when Crowley would mention how long ago they had met.

This year, Crowley showed up as usual, but after spending his normal couple minutes with the family, he took Jacob aside.

"When are you going to tell her?" He asked.

"Why would I tell her?" Jacob asked. "I know it's coming. She doesn't need to be worrying as well."

So you think it's better for her to just discover on her own what you did?" Crowley asked incredulously.

"Why do you care?" Jacob asked angrily. "She's not your mother."

"No, but anyone who can make as good of a cup of tea as her demands some respect in my book. She deserves to know," Crowley said firmly.

Jacob gave him a weird look. "Are you saying that you, the mean, King of Hell, demon, actually considers my mother a friend."

"I enjoy her company," Crowley said shortly. "She's very... alive. But I'm afraid she won't like me much longer. You should tell her."

"Fine," Jacob huffed. "Are you going to be there?"

"And risk her ruining this suit with her claws?" Crowley asked with a small laugh. "I don't think so."

"Whatever. Just go," Jacob said, turning his back on Crowley.

"Tell her!" Crowley called after him.

Jacob stormed off, back to his mom.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked. "Where's Mr. Crowley?"

"He left," Jacob said then sighed. "Mom, there's something I need to tell you."

"What's happened," Amy asked, concerned.

"I need to tell you the truth."

"The truth about what?" Amy asked, completely confused.

"The truth about that night. The night I met Crowley. The night you died."

**So? How was it?! This story will be updated every Sunday! I have four complete chapters done now with around 3000 words each so no worries on updates. Obviously, there will be a few mystery elements that will be revealed in later chapter, but I reckon that I'm pretty terrible at leaving hints so everybody can guess what the mysteries are. If not, wow, I'm good at my job! Feel free to guess:) Please Favorite/Follow/Review! If you want to leave a review but aren't sure what to say (yeah, it happens, I know) just tell me... Umm... Who's your favorite character on both Supernatural and Firefly? Gabriel is my favorite on Supernatural and River on Firefly:)**


	2. The Collection

**Well here you go! I know that this isn't a very big category, so I wanted to give a shout out to Lord Rebecca-sama for following this story and a HUGE thank you to Sherlock's Little Detective for reviewing! I hope that I didn't disappoint!**

_"The truth about that night. The night I met Crowley. The night you died."_

"What are you talking about, Sweetie? I survived that night."

"No, you didn't, Mom," Jacob replied sadly. "Dean didn't miss. He got you straight in the heart. You died. Right there in front of me and all I could do was watch."

"But I'm fine now!" Amy protested.

Jacob wouldn't meet her eyes. "Because I made sure that you were."

"Jacob, what did you do?" Amy asked with a dangerous note in her voice.

"Crowley helped me," Jacob said, his voice catching in his throat. "Except, he's not human. He's a demon."

Amy looked at her son in horror. "Oh, no. Jacob, please tell me you didn't..."

"I was eight!" He shouted before quieting down. "I was eight and my mother had died right in front of me. I didn't know where to go or what to do. I remembered you telling me a story of a demon deal once, so I looked up how to do it. I made up the box and went to a crossroads. The look on Crowley's face when he saw that a child had summoned him..."

Jacob trailed off with a small smile on his face. Amy was feeling numb. The betrayal by not only her son but somebody she considered to be a friend was almost too much for her. She nodded silently for Jacob to continue. She had to know the rest of this story.

"He was going to give me the normal deal, the ten years for the rest of your life, but I demanded more. He asked me why I thought that I should be allowed a different deal, so I revealed to him what we were. Our souls are more valuable to him, as they contain more power since we are not human. Purgatory doesn't care who enters so long as nothing exits. He would easily be able to take my soul for himself and nobody would care. I agreed to the deal. He said that I was lucky that I hadn't waited any longer to come to him because your soul was still retrievable as it hadn't finished the transition to Purgatory. He put you back and you woke up, healed, like nothing had ever happened. I never wanted you to know what I had given up that day. I decided that since I would have such a short life, I would have to make the most of it. Learn as much as I could, explore, and... spend time with you."

Jacob looked up as he said this last part and Amy could feel her eyes soften slightly in sympathy at the lost look on his face. He did what any scared little boy would do, but that didn't excuse him. She was so angry at the moment she couldn't even describe. Her son was suppose to live longer than her. No parent should have to outlive their child. This was just not the way of the world. And damn Crowley! That two faced bitch could rot for all she cared and she wouldn't shed a tear. He would take away her son in a few months time. Oh, yes. She could do the math. She had nearly died the fall after Jacob had turned eight and now he was turning eighteen. The two of them had kept this a secret from her for ten years! She stopped her quiet rant to herself as a thought occurred to her.

"Jacob," she started carefully. "What else did you ask for? You said that you were able to ask for more because of your special soul. What did you ask for?"

Jacob looked at her mournfully. "I wasn't thinking when I made the deal. I wasn't thinking of what you would want, I was just thinking that the world couldn't survive without you. Think about it. There have been enough clues over the years. You've noticed. I'm positive that you noticed."

Amy look at her son in confusion before closing her eyes and thinking about everything he had just said and trying to remember anything unusual that had happened over the past ten years.

"Purgatory only cares about people trying to leave," she murmured with her eyes closed. Her eyes flashed open and she looked at Jacob in horror. "Please tell me you didn't..."

Jacob lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Mom."

Amy closed her eyes again and sucked all of her feelings back into herself before putting them in a box and locking them up. She would deal with her own pain later. For now, she just had to be there for her son. She pulled Jacob into a hug. He was stiff at first but eventually sunk into her embrace. She could feel wetness on her shoulder from where he started crying silently.

"We'll deal with this," she said quietly, as much for herself as for Jacob. "We'll deal."

* * *

Three months later and it was only three days until Jacob's time. She and Jacob had spent every moment together. They tried not to think about the all too close future and just concentrate on the now. They only had a limited amount of time to make the most of it.

They hadn't had a permanent home in the past few months. Amy had put all of their stuff into storage and decided to just go with the flow. Mirroring their past trip, they visited all of Jacob's favorite places again. In the end, they ended up back where everything had started, in Montana. They visited Jacob's old school and said hello to some past friends that still lived visited their old house and saw the changes that had been done. Eventually, both got up the courage to visit the motel room where Amy had been stabbed.

"Isn't this touching?" The all too familiar voice said as Amy and Jacob sat on the bed that Amy had been lying on.

"Go away!" Amy spat immediately. She got up and moved so that she was in front of Jacob. Her claws came out almost without bidding and her eyes flashed yellow. "There is still three days left. You are not taking him early!"

Crowley raised an eyebrow at her. "Not that I was planning to. I'm a man of my word. Although sometimes I wish that I wasn't."

Crowley almost looked remorseful as he watch Amy.

"And I'm suppose to believe that you actually regret this?!" Amy shouted. "No. You are not my friend. You son of a bitch have no place in my life any more so go the hell away!"

Crowley still looked at her sadly. "I am sorry," he said quietly before disappearing.

"That oaf! I can't believe that he decided to come here early!" Amy exclaimed as she retracted her claws.. "And to just 'pretend' that he was sorry?!"

"It's okay, Mom," Jacob said quietly, getting up and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"No, it's not okay!" Amy shouted before breaking into tears. "I thought he was my friend, but he was only protecting an investment! And then now, when I finally discover the truth, he comes and apologizes for everything?! He, who is going to take my son away in three days, is asking for my forgiveness?! No! He will not have it! He's the demon. If he truly cares, why doesn't he change the deal?"

"Because I asked him not to," Jacob said admitted quietly.

"What?" Amy asked, looking up in confusion.

Jacob sighed. "He came to me once, when I was at Harvard. I thought that he was just there to taunt me a bit more, but he sat me down. He had me think about my life so far and about the life I wish I could have and he gave me a choice. He couldn't outright change the contract, but he could mirror the effects. So that would mean that I would be the one living forever and you would die. He begged me to even _consider_ his offer. He knew how much pain you would be in if you saw me die. But I refused. I could never kill you mom, even if I knew that you would prefer dying yourself to outliving me. He would try to remind me of his offer whenever he could. I... I think he really does care for you, Mom. I don't know what happened to him to even be able to show that sort of compassion since he is a demon, but he definitely feels something."

"Then he needs to come back!" Amy demanded. "You have to take that deal!"

"I will not!" Jacob shouted. "Mom, you deserve so much more than what life has given you so far. Even Crowley agrees with me on that."

"And you don't think that you deserve the same opportunity to live?!" Amy shouted back. "You're only eighteen!"

"And it's been the best eighteen years anybody could ask for! I knew, when I took the deal, that you would react like this. That's why I decided to keep this all a secret. I didn't want you worrying. Mom, you have given me everything in life. It's my turn to give to you."

"But what would I live for?" Amy asked, her tears returning. "You are everything to me. I don't have anybody else."

"Then find somebody," Jacob said firmly. "You brighten people's day by stepping in the room. Have you never noticed that? Find somebody and make their life better because you can. Go to college again and find something that you truly love to do, not just so that you can survive. Live, Mom."

"I don't think I can."

"You're going to have to," Jacob stated solemnly before grabbing his mother's hand and dragging her towards the bathroom. "Come on now. Get cleaned up. We still have two and a half days to spend together. I don't want to spoil one second of it."

Amy watched Jacob carefully the next day and the day after. She had heard stories of the "hallucination" period before where the demon deal victims would start to hear the sound of hellhounds barking for up to a week in advance, but Jacob showed no signs of hearing anything unusual. He was his normal, cheerful self.

On the outside at least. He was putting up a front. A good one, but she could still see right through. He was terrified. He had no idea what was coming for him no matter for how long he had known his fate to be. Amy never commented on that trace of fear. She had a hard enough time forgetting her own worries.

Their last day together, they spent at the park. Parks had somehow become their place to share close, bonding days. They sat on a bench and watched the small lake. Just sitting there was peaceful. Trying not to think was impossible, but the calming water made everything seem so far away.

That night in their hotel room, Jacob went to bed early. He had made the deal in the early hours of the morning, so it was logical to think that was his due date. Amy had no idea how he was able to fall asleep so easily. She was a nervous wreck. She would never hear her son's voice again or listen to him laugh. She felt numb, staring at him asleep in the other bed.

There was a knock on the door and Amy was quickly on her guard. She slipped out of bed and opened the door quietly.

"Hello, Amy," Crowley said quietly. "May I come in?"

Amy stepped to the side and let the demon enter. There was nothing she could do. It didn't matter that she was strong or fast or had claws, the demon would be able to stop her quickly. She closed the door quietly as Crowley pulled a chair next to Jacob's bed.

"He is a brave boy," Crowley murmured.

"He is," Amy said shortly. She didn't trust her voice at the moment.

Crowley looked at her in sadness. "I don't take any pleasure in this, you know."

"Like hell you don't," Amy spat.

"I never told you about my time with the Winchester's, did I?" Crowley asked.

"I don't think that now is the time for stories, Demon," Amy bit back.

"Never the less, I'll still tell you so that you may understand that I do actually despise this task."

Seeing that Crowley would tell her the story whether she wanted to be told or not, Amy sat down on the other bed with a sigh and made a small gesture for him to continue.

"The Winchesters and I had had so many encounters before. We stopped the apocalypse together, then fought each other as I and the angel Castiel worked together to open Purgatory. Needless to say, that whole scheme failed pretty miserably and ended with the Leviathans being released. Nothing good came from them being here and eventually Dean was able to get rid of them, but those creatures had brought these items called the tablets to my attention. There were three tablets, one for Leviathans, one for angels, and one for demons. Each tablet said many different things: how to fight the creature, how to trap them, weakness. Unfortunately, you needed a prophet to interpret the writing. I am not proud of what I did during those years. It was also during this time that I had first made the deal with your son. The Winchesters managed to get their hands on both a prophet, Kevin, and the demon tablet. The prophet was able to discover a way to seal the gates of hell forever. One person had to complete three trials. The brothers had meant for Dean to complete the trials but it ended being Sam instead. Sam completed the first two tasks, but had a difficult time with the third. The third trial was to turn a demon human again."

With this, Crowley looked up at Amy who had to shut her mouth at the impossible story she was being told.

"I received blood injections every day," Crowley continued quietly. "After a while, I could begin to feel my humanity return, bit by bit. I started to feel remorse, to want forgiveness for my centuries of torturing others."

Crowley got a far away look in his eye, but quickly shook it off and continued with the story.

"To make a long story short, if Sam completed the trials, he would've been killed as the ultimate sacrifice. Needless to say, I was never turned completely human. I was eventually released, but the damage had been done. I was a demon with human feelings. I put on a good show for everybody else, but really, I was just tired. I had met with you that one time a few months after the deal had been made, but I hadn't even thought of you two since. Not until I was summoned to the future by a person I cannot name to give your son that Chinese journal."

"I cannot say what it is," Crowley said, holding up his hands when Amy opened her mouth. "And I will be taking it with me when I finish here as it's no good to leave future knowledge about, but that book would've been extremely important to Jacob. When I saw you two at the park that day, I remembered how kind you had been the first time we had met. You were loving and funny and a brilliant mother. Something about you intrigued me. You could even manage to put a smile on my face. I don't know if it was the humanity in me speaking, but I ended up enjoying your company and looking forward to Jacob's birthday each year."

Crowley looked down at Jacob again. "But I also began to dread the deal that I had set up years previously. I couldn't imagine taking your son from you and never see you smile or laugh again. I tried to get Jacob to change the deal, but he was adamant."

"Which brings us to now," Amy finished quietly.

"Which brings us to now," Crowley agreed.

"If you're going to set the hellhounds on him, please tell me so I can leave the room," Amy said softly.

"You think that after everything I just told you, I could bare to set my hellhounds on the boy?!" Crowley exclaimed. His face softened as he looked down at Jacob. "No. There is a kinder way."

Crowley reached down and put his hand on Jacob's forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated. A wisp of silver smoke exited Jacob's mouth followed by a steady stream. Crowley closed his hand around the smoke and it disappeared.

"It's done," he said softly, getting up.

Amy slowly made her way towards her son. It didn't look like anything had changed, but she could feel that missing something. She leaned down and kissed her son on the forehead. That was her limit and she turned away from him as silent tears began to run down her face. She heard Crowley murmur a few words and when she turned back, Jacob's body was gone.

"He has been buried in the cemetery near your old house if you ever want to visit his grave," Crowley said. "If you ever need anything, it's not too difficult to find a summoning spell."

With that, he left the now childless mother to mourn.

**So there we have it. Jacob's death:( I hope that didn't come as too big of a surprise to you. If you didn't catch on, the "extra" thing that Jacob asked for was for his mother to live forever. Sorry that plot line wasn't very smooth, but I really wanted to find a way to get her into the Firefly universe.**

**Anyways! Next chapter we've got a bit of spot the fandom(sorry, I really couldn't help myself). If you have a particular fandom you want to see, either movie, tv show, or book, and I know enough about it, I'll put it in so please review! The only limitation is to please make sure that it could fit with the story (****i.e., on Earth, the right time period, etc.) Other than that, thank you for reading! I'll see you next Sunday with the next chapter!**


	3. The Years

**Welcome one and all to the next chapter! Before getting down to ****business, I'd like to thank CTYerFOREVER and Mad Bobert for following. I didn't get any reviews which made me sad:( Now for this chapter, I'm going to say right now that it's a bit of a filler covering the years between the Supernatural timeline and Firefly. I did mention that there would be a bit of "spot the fandom" last chapter so see if you can guess all of them!**

"You bloody woman! What do you think you're doing!" Crowley yelled as he stormed into the hotel room that Amy had yet to leave.

She was numb. All grief had left by now, leaving her empty. She didn't need human food technically, but she could only survive without the pituitary glands for about a week or so before feeding again. She hadn't fed in nearly two weeks now.

"Do you think that starving yourself is going to work?! Jacob asked for you to live forever. Do you think that this is honoring his memory?!" Crowley continued.

"There's nothing left for me here," Amy moaned. "Why can't I die? Why should I be the only creature on Earth that doesn't have the privilege to die?"

"You're only looking at immortality as a curse," Crowley disagreed. "You now have infinite time on your hands. Use it the way Jacob wished for you to."

"Doing what? I don't have a family anymore. No close friends. Nobody would care if I were gone."

"I would care," Crowley said quietly. He grabbed Amy's hand. "Come with me."

"Where are we going?" Amy asked as she let herself get dragged out of her bed.

"To my house," Crowley answered before colors twisted around her and she found herself in a lavish room that she didn't recognize.

"What am I doing here, Crowley?" Amy asked with a sigh.

"Welcome to Hell," Crowley said with a grin.

"Not exactly what I was expecting," Amy responded, looking around.

"Just one of the perks. I won't take you to any of the torturing parts. Now come. There's something I want to show you."

Crowley led her through the large house. Amy, against her better judgement, was admiring the house. He led her to a parlor where she saw a familiar face, sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a book.

"Jacob?" She asked quietly. Her son immediately put the book down and faced her at the sound of her voice.

"Mom!" He exclaimed and rushed over to give her a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Jacob held her at arm's length and examined Amy thoroughly. "And what the hell did you do with yourself?!"

"Language," Amy chided without a second thought. She sighed and looked down at herself. She was a mess. She hadn't eaten and had barely moved. She was way too skinny and her skin was pale. Her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was matted from not brushing it. "I was in depression."

"That's it? That's all you can say?!" Jacob exclaimed, pacing the room. "Damn it, Mom! I gave you forever to enjoy it, not to waste it worrying about me!"

"And how have you been?" Amy asked, trying to get off the subject of her wellbeing.

Jacob's eyes lit up. "It's awesome. Crowley has a wonderful book collection that I'm slowly working my way through. He's not around all that often, but if I call, he always comes back. Anything I need, he'll find a way to get it."

"Sounds wonderful," Amy said wistfully. Jacob caught her expression before she could cover it up.

"But I still miss you, Mom," Jacob assured her quickly.

"Well it sounds like you have a wonderful life down here, Sweetie."

"I have some food," Crowley said, coming in again with a silver tray after he had snuck out some time ago to give the mother and son privacy. Amy gave him a smile as she saw the pieces of meat that she could easily identify as her normal food source. Now that she could accept eating again, she was famished. She quickly made up a plate for herself and offered some to her son, but he declined, saying that he no longer needed to eat.

They three had a wonderful afternoon together. Without Amy's cloud of depression hanging over her, she was once again the life and joy of the gathering. After several hours had passed and the conversation died down, Crowley got around to some serious matters.

"I didn't just ask you down here to see Jacob," Crawley told Amy.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked.

"I would like to make you a deal," Crowley announced.

"What sort of deal?" Amy asked cautiously. "What do you want from me?"

"All I want is for you to promise to take care of yourself in exchange for once a year, on Jacob's birthday, I'll bring you down here and you can visit for the day."

Crowley held his hand up as he could see that Amy was about to protest. "Yes, once a year. You're still very much alive and you belong topside, not down here. I'm technically breaking the rules already letting you down here."

"I accept," Amy said immediately. "Thank you."

Crowley nodded and stood up. "We should get going. I'll give you time to say goodbye."

Amy stood up and gave her son a hug. "I'll see you in a year."

She couldn't say why, but Jacob looked very depressed by her remark. "Yeah, sure. A year."

With one final kiss to the check, she left Jacob to his books to go find Crowley.

"Thank you for this opportunity," she said when they got back to the hotel room.

"Don't forget your promise," Crowley responded.

"I won't," Amy promised. Crowley left with a nod.

* * *

With her consciousness mostly cleared, Amy started doing, well, whatever the hell she wanted. She would go to college and get a degree in some random thing, all the while working in some hospital for both the money and the food, only to pack up and leave just as soon as she was finished to go on another world tour. Most of the time, she would settle someplace for four years to get a degree then move on before people noticed that she wasn't ageing. She had to admit that if she had to be frozen at any age, mid thirties was perfect. It was old enough to get a well paying job but young enough to not have any problems physically. She met so many interesting people during her travels and had gone to wonderful places.

In the process of tracking down her great great grandparents, a random, spur of the moment thing, she came across a confusing mess of information that led to an older man in a dark suit and his... What did he call it? A yes, companion. He had flinched at the sound of her name, but had eventually broken down and given her some confusing explanation of time traveling and aliens. Amy eventually decided that she was better off not knowing the entire story and had gone to London to unearth some more conspiracies where she met a strange man with dark, curly hair in a black coat and blue scarf and his friend, a sandy haired doctor. The first man mentioned had been rather rude and, after declaring that she was a mess of contradictions, would never leave her alone. Needless to say, that, while she enjoyed the company of his friend, she had high tailed it back to America after she completed the degree in literature she was working on.

She moved to a small town in Virginia where she thought that she might have to go on a hunt for the first time from the sheer amount of vampires running around. She was quicker than humans and stronger so it wouldn't be that difficult to stake them(as this particular type needed to be), but she met them and got to know how they worked. Once she figured out that the two brothers and their friends didn't kill humans, she decided to leave them alone. Her time at the university nearby was nearly done anyway. This time she had focused on all sorts of religion, theology, and even the mystical and supernatural.

Next she moved to a larger city on the east coast and started to work on a degree in computer science. She got an internship at a big company and worked with a computer genius there that had a very... particular relationship with her boss. No, get your head out of the gutter! The type where she knows that her boss is a crime fighting vigilantly who she assists at night. It hadn't taken Amy long to figure out that secret. When she confronted the boss about the aforementioned hobby and put up a surprisingly good fight(she may not have had much training, but she was quicker and stronger even if she tried to tone down those qualities a bit so she seemed more human) he invited her to be a part of the small team. He taught her how to really fight well and use all manner of weapons, especially his favorite: the bow. After she finished the computer science degree and decided to move on again, he suggested to go to another city were a friend of his could continue her training.

She was as much of a helper to the friend as he was to her, as she was medically trained. He had been injured badly in the past, but she was able to help with his injuries and any new ones that came up while getting a degree in mechanical engineering to help design new tech at the same time.

After spending so many years learning from schools, she decided to go and explore more cultures. She, like Jacob, was naturally a quick learner so she would stay in one country for a year or two to learn the language and move on. When she had finished that crusade, she was fluent in Spanish, French, Russian, Mandarin(most common form of Chinese), Italian, and could read Latin and Greek.

Every year she would visit her son in Hell. Jacob adored his life with Crowley and even considered him to be a bit of a father figure. Even Amy considered him to be a part of the family, although she saw him more as her brother or even a mentor. Crowley had given up the whole "King of Hell" thing to just live his life in peace and quiet. He spent most of his time at his home in Hell with Jacob. Amy had been horrified when she learned that one year on Earth was equal to forty in Hell, but Jacob assured her that her one visit every forty years was better than not seeing her at all.

Amy had gotten in the habit of keeping a journal of her travels and taking a camera with her everywhere. During her days with Jacob, she would sit down with him and Crowley and explain all that she had done and show them pictures. She never said anything, but she suspected that Crowley checked in on her sometimes because Jacob seemed familiar with some of her stories before she told them.

All in all, she was fairly happy with her life. Obviously she wished that her son was with her, but her life wasn't bad.

Humanity, however, was moving on with or without her and she had to keep with the times. Humans started looking towards the stars as they slowly destroyed the planet. Amy was probably the most educated person on the planet, but even she couldn't figure out a way to help. None of the degrees she had could truly help, even with the repeats.. When she felt that one field had advanced way further than her previous degree had allowed, she would take the course again. She had found absolute love in astronautical engineering. She loved ship engines. As countries began to take off for other star systems, she would design and create their engines. She finally left the planet herself when America and China decided to leave together.

It was difficult to hide the fact that she didn't age on a ship that she would be on for a several decades, but she managed. She had become so good at computers that she was able to mess with the records every time she needed to disappear and reappear on a different section of the ship, doing a different job. The most difficult issue for her was feeding. There were thousands of people on the ship, but many elderly had stayed behind since it was pretty certain that they would not survive the journey. Crowley was particularly helpful during this time, bringing her whatever she needed when she was not able to get the things herself.

It was during this time that she decided to change her name to Kaylee. Kaylee was a nice common name. She had been Amy for too long. Now that her time on Earth was over, she felt like a little part of her had died. She needed to have a new beginning. She had to admit, it wasn't easy to get used to people calling her Kaylee. It had been more spur of the moment than anything. She had been messing with the records when she suddenly decided to give herself a new name. When she mentioned this to Jacob and Crowley, Jacob had been happy that she was moving on. Crowley had flat out refused to call her something different _unless _they also happened to be in front of others. Then he'd be a _little _more careful.

When they landed, she was so happy to be on actual land again. Not that she could stay out for any long amount of time since the planet had not been terraformed yet, but it was still nice. Crowley had taken her up to the surface on Earth-That-Was, as people were calling it now, on her days where she got to visit Jacob, but those visits had to stop nearly forty years ago when the environment had become too unstable even for her.

China and the United States had decided to combine their governments to create one large empire called the Union of Allied Planets. Kaylee wasn't too sure how that that whole transition worked because the Chinese and American governments were still vastly different, but things went way more smoothly than she expected. The Alliance started spreading out further, terraforming more planets as they went and settling colonists.

Kaylee was extremely surprised when Crowley informed her that he wished to set up a more permanent residence on one of the planets. She had asked about Jacob, but Crowley had said that her son was fine being left alone. Actually, he craved it. Crowley had apparently gotten a bit house sick during the time that everybody had been on the ships. Jacob had demanded that when people really got settled that Crowley set something up not in Hell.

Kaylee had tried to get Crowley into the shipping business because that seemed like something the demon, who was truly a business man at heart, would thrive in, but she could only shake her head and laugh a bit when Crowley ended up getting involved in the smuggling business instead.

Kaylee had followed him about some and had done her own business things, working on engines and such. She could've had a fancy job designing tech and ships for the Alliance if she wanted, or even worked in one of the hospitals since she was more than qualified by this point, but she had started to get a sinking feeling in her stomach when she thought of the Alliance. She had mentioned this feeling to Crowley who had just looked at her and said to not look too close at the Alliance unless she wished to be taken away and, if they ever figured out who she was, experimented on. He said all of this with such certainty that she had no doubt that it was true. The Alliance was bad news, especially after the Unification war. She hadn't fought herself, but she had been privately rooting for the Browncoats, even working with Crowley to smuggle supplies to the rim.

She was on Persephone with Crowley, who was currently going by Badger, when she met them. The crew that would become her life.

**Now I fell like I need to explain this chapter a bit. I'm saying right off, I didn't like this chapter much. There were some things that needed to happen(****i.e., Amy/Kaylee's acceptance of her situation), but at the same time, it felt a bit rushed. Now as for the whole college thing and her learning so much, that was kind of modeled on what I would do if I had forever. Seriously, what would you do if you had centuries? So yes, she is going to be smart.**

**The other thing I would like to clarify is how her immortality is going to work. She can be hurt and she can feel pain to the same extent as she could before, just nothing would kill her now. The knife to the heart wouldn't kill her either, but it would _feel _like she had died before coming back so she's not going to be looking for trouble.**

**Oh, and one more thing(jeez, this is getting long), but Amy/Kaylee and Crowley will have NO romance anything going on. Other than that, thank you for reading! Please please please review! See if you can guess all of the random tv shows she jumped into! I'll give you a hint, there's four tv shows and one movie:)**

**We're going to meet the crew of Serenity next chapter!**


	4. The Beginning

**Hello everybody and welcome to part four! As it is not yet midnight where I live(although it's getting close), I believe I still got this out on time, if a bit later than normal. I know that last chapter sucked so I thank you all for struggling through that mess to reach this chapter. Without further ado, let's meet the Firefly crew! ...That rhymed.**

Captain Malcolm Reynolds was fairly quiet as he made the slow trek across the Eavesdown docks to meet up with Badger. His thoughts were occupied with the mechanic he had hired _Gou cao de _in the engine room. He had no idea what he was going to do.

His first mate, Zoe, walked silently beside him. That was one of the things that he liked about her, she didn't feel the need to talk all the time. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with his crew. Zoe hated the pilot he had hired. He had to admit, Wash's cheerful personality and endless jokes took some getting used to, but he was an excellent pilot. Bester was another issue. He was arrogant and _hwen dan_, but he unfortunately was an okay mechanic. Mal knew that as soon as he found one that even came close to Bester's level of expertise, that boy would be off his ship.

Mal and Zoe were stopped at the door that led to the underground complex that was Badger's base. That description made it sound like a government base, but it was more like a maze of tunnels that, while nicely taken care of, had uneven rock floors and walls. This was Mal's first meeting ever with Badger and he was hoping to be able to get a quick job to get into Badger's confidences. The word around Persephone was that Badger may not be particularly friendly or tell everything, but he would always keep a deal once struck. He seemed like the sort of guy that Mal wouldn't mind taking a few jobs from.

The two were let in and led to what looked like a fancy meeting room, something right out of the rich core planet dwellers homes. The floor was covered in a plush carpet and there was dark colored wooden paneling on the walls. There were a few paintings on the walls and a couple bookshelves filled with old tomes. Mal was surprised at that bit. Hardly anybody had real books anymore. It was so much cheaper to invest in one piece of technology that could hold all of your books instead of buying several books with _very_ expensive paper. In the center of the room was a beautiful wooden desk with several leather chairs in front of it and one more behind.

"How does a smuggler get this rich?" Mal muttered to Zoe who shrugged.

"You don't start as a smuggler," a voice answered. Mal and Zoe looked around and found that a man in an expensive looking business suit had entered the room from a door on the other end. This must be Badger. He was shorter than Mal was expecting.

"This business is just something that I enjoy," the man said, coming up to Mal and Zoe. He held out his hand. "'ello. I'm Badger."

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds," Mal replied amiably, shaking Badger's hand.

"First mate Zoe Alleyne," Zoe introduced herself.

"Pleasure," Badger said. He walked around to sit behind the desk and and gestured towards the chairs in front. "Please, sit. Let's talk business."

Mal and Zoe did as asked.

"We're working on establishing some more connections at the moment," Mal began. "We've been smuggling for a couple years now, but I believe you would find that we are good at our job."

"Hmm," Badger hummed. "Tell me about your crew."

Mal was confused by the odd request, most potential clients just wanted to know about the business itself, but complied. "We've got a pilot, Hoban Washburne. He's damn good at it too. Only got one other and that's our mechanic, but we're looking to replace him. We're on the look out for maybe one more fighter and perhaps somebody to rent out one of the shuttles, but that's it."

Badger hummed again. "I've heard of your pilot. One of the best from what I've heard, but pictures show that he could work on his fashion sense."

Mal managed to hold in his laughter, but Zoe had to give a little snort.

"I have a mechanic for you, if you'll have her," Badger said after a moment. "She's probably the best in the 'verse, but she's just looking for a bit of adventure. She's friendly and easy to like, but she's no wimp. She'll put up a good fight."

"Why would you help us find a mechanic?" Mal asked. "We haven't even done you a job yet."

Badger stood up and started pacing. "Because I can tell that you two are good people. Any successful business man can tell you that they get a sixth sense around people and I would consider trusting you with Kaylee. If you do take her, you're guaranteed jobs from me with full disclosure."

This was almost too good to be true. Mal couldn't believe their good luck. Get a good mechanic and guaranteed work? It shouldn't be possible.

"Can we meet this girl?" Mal asked, keeping a calm face even though he was jumping for joy inside.

"Sure," Badger shrugged. Mal expected him to call somebody to the door to fetch the girl, but Badger stood up and walked to the door in the back and stuck his head out. "Kaylee!"

Mal and Zoe exchanged a look at the very informal summoning. They were even more surprised when a girl who looked to be thirty practically skipped in.

"What's up, Crowley?" She asked cheerfully.

"I've got some people here that I would like you to meet," Badger explained and led her over to Mal and Zoe who stood up.

"Kaylee, this is Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his first mate, Zoe Alleyne. Captain, Ms. Alleyne, this is Kaylee."

"Hi!" Kaylee said happily. "How're you doing?"

Her speech was a bit unusual, but Mal shrugged it off. "We're fine, thank you. Badger here was telling us that you're a damn good mechanic."

Kaylee's eyes lit up. "Oh yes! I love ships, even built a few myself."

Mal looked her over with a careful eye. She was definitely energetic and cheerful, but maybe that would be what his ship needed. If she was as good as Badger said she was, she could definitely be a good addition to his crew.

"We're in the market at the moment," Mal explained. "Would you be willing to try us out?"

The way he phrased it made it very much Kaylee's choice as to whether or not she wished to join the crew. Both Badger and Kaylee had small smiles on their faces as they caught on.

"I'd be more than willing. What type of ship do you have?"

"We have a Firefly class," Mal answered. If it was possible, Kaylee's eyes lit up even more.

"I've always wanted to work on one of those beauties! I always love the concept. It's a shame they're not around much anymore."

Mal had to smile at the girl that had just complimented his ship before even meeting her. Kaylee was definitely on his good list so far.

"Well we're grounded at the moment for some reason that our current mechanic can't figure out. If you can get us in the air again, you've got the job," Mal offered.

"No problem," Kaylee said with a smile. "When would you like me down there?"

"Would this afternoon work?" Mal asked. "We're hoping to get moving soon."

"Sure thing," Kaylee said with another smile. "It was nice to meet you two. I'll see you tonight!"

With that, she skipped from the room again. Badger watched her go with a small chuckle. "She's quite the one, isn't she?"

"That she is," Mal agreed. He could already see Kaylee getting along with Wash and maybe should could even soften the battle-hardened Zoe a bit. "If she can get the job done, I can see her being a good part of the crew."

"Even if she doesn't get the job done, which I really doubt since the ship would have to be completely wrecked for her to not get it going again, she might stay anyway," Badger said with a small chuckle. "She loves those old Fireflies."

"If she keeps complimenting my ship, she might get the job even without having one ounce of mechanical ability," Mal said with a small laugh. Badger chuckled with him.

"But even if you don't take Kaylee on, I do have a job for you if you want it," Badger told them. "It's just a simple pillage. Some of my scouts reported a wreck about a week and a half journey from here. There's no Alliance in the area. It was a passenger ship, but it's engine blew. By the time anybody got a distress signal, nobody was still alive. The Alliance decided to just leave the ship drifting instead of going through the hassle of dragging it in. It's a bit far from a planet so nobody has really come across the wreckage. I don't even know what's on it. Grab anything valuable, bring it back. Simple."

"Sounds like a job we can do," Mal agreed before settling in to discuss money for the next hour. Yes, this arrangement could work well.

* * *

Kaylee was beyond excited. Okay, she hadn't been completely honest when she said that she had never worked on a Firefly before. In fact, she had helped design the first one. Unfortunately, the company didn't value the opinion of a thirty year old girl much so she was let go. If anything, the design for the first Firefly was the best and they just went downhill from there, but she couldn't tell them that for that would make her nearly eighty years old. If they let her, maybe she could rework the engine back to her original design.

She had packed a small trunk with everything she would need if she did go. For now, she would only bring her workbag with tools and such. She didn't want to assume too much. Most of her things would stay here. Crowley would take care of everything. He had promised aswell that if she ever did find a ship that she would want to stay on full time, he would bring her the food that she needed.

She hurried out of the complex with her bag over her shoulder. It didn't take long for her to find the Firefly ship. She stood outside, gazing at the incredible ship that may become her home. She read the name "Serenity" on the side. She remembered when the whole Serenity battle had been announced back here. She had no doubt that at least the Captain was a Browncoat.

"Well? Are you going to come in?"

She lowered her gaze to the ramp leading to the cargo bay. The Captain stood there, waiting for her. She nodded eagerly and walked up the ramp. She followed him back to the engine room where a blond was sleeping, propped up against a wall. Mal sent an evil grin to Kaylee before shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Bester!"

The man, apparently Bester, shot up and hit his head on a pipe. "Ow!"

"Bester, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Mal said impatiently. Bester looked around with sleep clouded eyes before finally seeing Kaylee.

"Who is she?"

"This is Kaylee," Mal said proudly, as though she were already a part of the team. "She's a mechanic. She's here to see if she can get Serenity off the ground."

"No Gorram girl can be a mechanic," Bester denied with a snort and a shake of his head. "Besides, the secondary grav boot is shot."

"I should kick your _pi gu __**(ass)**_ for that comment," Kaylee said absent mindedly as she dropped her bag down and slid herself underneath the engine.

"Besides, you're wrong," came the muffled continuation. "It's not the secondary grav boot. Your reg couple is bad."

"The... What?" Bester asked, flustered.

"This," Kaylee said, pointing to the part. When Bester still looked confused she sighed. "Whatever. It doesn't matter much anyways."

Kaylee pulled the part out and gave it to Mal. She didn't trust the Bester guy with any sort of machine part. She pointed to a wrench as she started tinkering with the engine. "Hand me that, please. These things don't really do much, just tend to gum up the works when it gets tacked. So I figure, why even have one? Better to just take your g-line, plug it straight into the port-pin-lock, and that should, uh..."

She smiled as the engine starts turning again. She turned to look at her audience. Mal was looking at her proudly.

"Badger wasn't lying 'bout your talent."

Kaylee glowed at the comment as Bester waved his hands at the part still in Mal's hands. "Don't we need this?"

Mal didn't even spare him a glance. "You've got the job if you want it."

"Really?" Kaylee asked in excitement.

"Really really."

"Thank you!"

"But Mal, what do you need two mechanics for?" Bester protested.

"I really don't," Mal said before walking away.

When Bester realized that he had just been fired, he turn to glare at Kaylee who shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile.

"You _Go Neong Yung Duh_!" He snarled. "You lost me my job!"

Kaylee stood there as he charged her. Her old training kicked in easily as he went to punch her sloppily. She leaned a bit to the side to avoid the punch (not that it would hurt much anyway) and kicked his legs out from under him while he was off balance. As she did that, she quickly extended the claws on one hand to cut his belt. His pants started to fall down as he hit the ground, tangling up his legs. She retracted her claws quickly before anyone could see.

I may be a _Go Neong Yung Duh_, but at least I can fix an engine," Kaylee said as she walked off.

She could hear Bester struggling to breathe as she exited the room to find Mal right outside. He was watching her in amazement.

"Where did you learn to do that?" He asked. "I was hoping that he wouldn't try anything stupid, but I suspected he might so I stayed close by to help just in case. Looks like you didn't need it."

"I can defend myself against that half-wit."

"I'll say," Mal said with a bit of a chuckle. "Come. I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew."

He led her up to the bridge where they found a blond haired man and Zoe watching a screen with a picture of the engine room. Bester was still on the floor, trying to figure out some way to keep his pants on. The blond was laughing out loud at the fired mechanic's struggles while Zoe had a faint smile. When she and Mal entered the room, both people turned to look at them. Zoe gave her a respectful smile while the man shook his head in amazement.

"You," he said, pointing at her, "are incredible. That man needed to be put in his place for ages! You're gonna be great on this team!"

Kaylee smiled at him for his praise and looked to Mal for introductions.

"Wash, this is Kaylee, our new mechanic. Kaylee, this is Wash, our pilot. And you've already met Zoe."

"It's nice to meet you," Kaylee said warmly as she shook hands with Wash. The man had a bright smile but a ridiculous mustache on his upper lip. He was also wearing a Hawaiian print shirt. Over all, it was a bit of an eye sore, but she could tell that he didn't care. Good for him.

"Do you have more things to bring with you?" Mal asked her.

"I've got a small trunk, but most of my stuff will stay with Crowley," she informed them.

"You called him that earlier," Zoe observed. "Why do you call Badger, Crowley?"

Kaylee shrugged. "That's just what I've always called him. I've known him most of my life. He didn't always go by Badger. He's practically family. He helped me get through some hard times."

"Well so long as you get us guaranteed jobs, you're always welcome here," Wash joked.

Kaylee laughed. "Crowley probably would've given you plenty of jobs anyway, even if you didn't take me on. He's good at telling what sort of person you are just by meeting you. He probably wouldn't have offered to let me check out your engine if he wasn't already thinking of working with you."

"Good to know," Mal said with a smile. "Now, let's go get your stuff."

Kaylee and Mal exited the ship and took the short walk back to Crowley's place. There, she led him right past the door guards, who greeted her by name, and strait to her room. She knew Mal was examining her room to figure out exactly what sort of person she was.

Her room was simple. She didn't care about the lavish furniture or carpets that Crowley enjoyed. He had, in fact, brought most of his stuff here from his mansion back in Hell, stating that he couldn't survive with out his creature comforts. She, in contrast, had painted the rock walls a light blue color. There was a grey carpet on the floor. She had a good sized bed with an emerald green comforter. There was a desk in the corner piled high with technical diagrams and books on various spacecrafts. There was a small closet to the side that held most of her clothes. Normally the door was closed, but she had forgotten and her stuff was there for everyone to see.

She didn't realize that Mal had wandered over to her bedside table where there were a few pictures of her and Jacob until he pick one up.

"Who's this?"

Kaylee froze. One of the pictures was of her and Jacob when he was eighteen. Especially now, when age was measured by the amount of dirt in your wrinkles, most people considered her to be younger than her actual age of thirty four. If she told him that it was her son, there would definitely be some questions asked about how a girl in her late twenties could have a son so old.

"That's my little brother, Jacob," she said after a moment. "He died a bit back."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." Mal tried to backtrack.

"It's okay," Kaylee said. "He died saving my life. I think he would be proud to go that way. I miss him, but I know that he wouldn't want me to sit here grieving, so I try to make the most of life."

"That's a good way to live," Mal said softly.

Kaylee hefted her trunk up. The trunk wasn't heavy for her, but it was bulky for her small frame. Mal offered to carry it, but she had already shown that she could pick it up and she knew that he would struggle more than her so she refused. She said a quick goodbye to Crowley and was on her way.

Back at the ship, Mal showed her to her cabin. He apologized that it wasn't what she was used to, but she assured him that it was perfect. She managed to get her trunk down the ladder and set it at the foot of her bed. She collapsed on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. This is it. Her new home.

**So? Better? I hope so.**

**I've been noticing a distinct lack in reviews for this story. I'm not asking for a review every chapter, but just a little thing to tell me what you like/don't like would be lovely. Seriously, those things motivate me to write more than anything and as I've run out of my stored chapters and am now writing on a weekly basis, that motivation is desperately needed. I promise you, this story will never be abandoned, but chapters might start coming out late if I can't find the time or motivation to write so please please please review!**


	5. The Suspicion

**Hi people and welcome to the next chapter! Ready to meet Inara? Well you're in luck! That's enough of me babbling, let's get onto the story!**

"Did yah hear, Zoe? We're gonna get a passenger on board!" Kaylee exclaimed to the first mate as they hung together in the small resting area.

Zoe chuckled at Kaylee's excitement. Kaylee had fit in well with the crew, she reflected. The young girl was exactly what the battle hardened Mal needed, and she too if she was honest with herself. Zoe enjoyed Kaylee's company immensely.

Zoe ignored Kaylee's background most of the time, but sometimes the girl would say something in "proper" English that would betray her more civilized upbringing. Zoe suspected that Kaylee was trying to slur some of her words and speak more like she and Mal to fit in better with the ship. On the other hand, Zoe knew that she was being influenced right back as she always tried to correct herself when she would catch Kaylee's barely hidden flinch at her bad grammar.

"Yes, _mei-mei_," Zoe responded. "Would Mal have invited anybody onboard if I didn't say so?"

"What's she like? Have you met her? She must be rich to be renting a shuttle," Kaylee rambled.

"I suppose so," Zoe said with another chuckle. "Mal's showing her around now. I haven't met her before, but so long as she doesn't interfere with the job, I don't see no harm."

She caught Kaylee's flinch and corrected herself. "Any."

Kaylee gave her a small smile. "I hope she's nice."

"Even if she wasn't, you'd help her become nice," Zoe assured her. "You do that to people. Always smiling."

"So I've been told," Kaylee said with a laugh. "It's certainly helped you."

"I suppose," Zoe shrugged. "It's certainly put me in a better mood for dealing with Wash."

Kaylee smirked. "You like him."

"I tolerate him," Zoe corrected.

"Admit it, ever since he shaved that mustache off, he's even become a bit cute," Kaylee teased.

"So he's not so much of an eye sore anymore," Zoe shrugged. "Doesn't mean I like him."

"I say, less than two months and you two will be dating," Kaylee predicted.

"You are out of your mind," Zoe replied.

The two women turned around as they heard footsteps coming towards where they were sitting. Mal entered first with a beautiful woman behind him.

The lady was dressed in a fine blue skirt with gold trim and a matching top that left her stomach bare. Her dark, wavy hair was pulled back and covered with a veil. She moved with a quiet confidence and her intelligent gazed scanned everything in the room.

"Zoe, Kaylee, I'd like you to meet Miss Inara, she will be renting one of the shuttles," Mal introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Inara said in a smooth voice, bowing her head slightly.

Zoe had no idea who exactly Mal was going to to rent the shuttle out to, but she had trusted him to make a good decision for the ship. She hadn't been expecting a _companion, _as Inara clearly was from her clothing and mannerisms. Kaylee hadn't caught on to this fact and had moved closer to greet their new ship mate.

"Hi! I'm Kaylee, the mechanic here on Serenity."

"You are?" Inara asked intrigued. "I was not aware that there were many female mechanics."

"Kaylee's one of the best mechanics in the 'verse," Mal said, defending Kaylee quickly.

"Your crew is very close," Inara observed.

"That we are," Zoe said, stepping forward. "I'm Zoe, first mate on this ship."

Inara bowed her head again as Kaylee burst forth with questions for the companion.

"So where are you from? What's it like? How long are you going to stay? Do you like it here?"

Inara laughed. "You have many questions, clearly."

Kaylee nodded her head eagerly. Zoe was relieved that Kaylee's energy hadn't alienated Inara. In fact, Inara had moved to sit in one of the chairs in the small resting area with Kaylee beside her were she tried to answer as many of Kaylee's questions as possible.

"I'm from Sihnon where I was trained as a companion. I have worked as one for many years now."

"You're a companion?" Kaylee asked. If Zoe didn't know better, she would almost say she could detect disgust in Kaylee's voice, but there was no chance of that. Kaylee didn't care who you were, never had. That was one of the things that Zoe had loved about Kaylee.

"You do not approve of me?" Inara asked, tilting her head to the side. "You would not be the first."

Maybe Zoe hadn't been so far off the mark as she had originally thought. She knew that companions had been trained in more than just pleasure, but was the training so in depth to be able to sense the very slight hostility from a girl she had just met?

"No, your body is yours to use. I do not care what for, I just would not have chosen that path for myself," Kaylee responded.

Inara eyed the mechanic. "You are not from the rim, are you? You speak more properly."

"I'm from Persephone," Kaylee agreed. "I joined this crew to see the 'verse. Besides, I love this ship."

"I will enjoy speaking to you again," Inara said as she stood up. She turned to Mal. "Captian, should we finish the tour?"

"Right this way, Miss," Mal said, gesturing out the door. Zoe could easily detect the sarcasm in his voice so she knew that Inara had as well, but the companion did not say anything except bidding her and Kaylee farewell before leaving.

Zoe and Kaylee glanced at each other. This was turning into a very interesting crew.

* * *

"See? Just like that," Inara said, patting Kaylee's hair as she gave it one final twist.

"Ooh, thank you!" Kaylee exclaimed as she examined the hair do that Inara had done in of the the mirrors on the shuttle.

"Glad you liked it," Inara smiled. Kaylee gave a quick smile back. Inara had been inviting her over to spend time together at least once a week since she had first started renting the shuttle a month or so ago. She knew that the companion, with all of her training in psychology, suspected many things from her. She tried to fit Inara's mental picture of who she believed Kaylee to be, but it was getting more difficult not to slip up, especially when she was around the rest of the crew. She had become so use to her new family that she wouldn't pay attention to how she spoke as much and would sometimes slip into her old speech. The rest of the crew wasn't so observant as to pick up on this, but Inara was. Inara was just waiting for Kaylee to slip up, but Kaylee wasn't going to give her that advantage. If she was going to reveal anything, it would be on her own terms.

"So what was the real reason you called me here?"

Inara jumped slightly. "Wha- What?"

Kaylee smirked a little as Inara's surprise broke through her companion training. "You didn't just call me here to chat and do my hair. You want to discuss something."

"How could you detect that?" Inara wondered, her confusion breaking through just enough to let her ask that question instead of immediately denying.

"Look, Inara," Kaylee started with a sigh. "You might be trained in Companion etiquette, but my whole life has been dedicated to subterfuge. I normally have a pretty good sense of people's ulterior motives. So what is it you want?"

Inara looked at her in a new light. "As you just admitted, you have been trained. I was only wondering where and why."

"You misunderstood me," Kaylee said, shaking her head. "I never said I was trained, only that I have lived with secrets for a long time. And let me say this now, just because I am allowing you to ask me these questions does not require me to answer you fully or even at all. I would also ask for a measure of privacy such that anything that I say here stays between us. The rest of the crew know very little about my background but my openness towards them gives the illusion that I'm more open with my life than I truly am."

"A good tactic," Inara agreed. "Anything said on this ship stays between us."

"Thank you."

"I am curious about several things," Inara began, cautious of crossing the line that Kaylee had just put forth.

"You may ask," Kaylee agreed.

"The first thing is your speech. You attempt to talk like the crew aboard this ship, but you always use proper grammar, even if you use slang sometimes. I have even seen you flinch when others use improper grammar as well. Other times, you will speak more formally, betraying a higher class upbringing, especially when I am around. Clearly you are use to a more formal setting if you can slip back into that style of speech without realizing fully. Yet other times you will speak like nothing I have heard. Sometimes I swear you haven't even grown up anywhere near the known planets."

"You're good," Kaylee agreed with a small smile.

Inara waited with a patient smile until she realized that Kaylee wasn't going to elaborate. Her smile faltered. "That's it?"

"You never asked me a question," Kaylee pointed out.

Inara nodded her head at Kaylee's point. "Fine. Where are you from?"

Kaylee considered the answer carefully. "My home no longer exists, but everybody knows of it. I'm afraid that's all I wish to say on the subject. Any more and I'm afraid you would run screaming."

Inara narrowed her gaze. "Is there something I should be afraid of?"

"Only the unknown."

"A valid reason."

"Is there anything else?"

Inara considered Kaylee. "Is there any question I can ask where I would be given a full and honest answer?"

"No," Kaylee answered simply.

To Inara's credit, she didn't get mad, at least not visibly. "Fair enough. You had warned me."

"If that is all," Kaylee started, standing up. "I'll just be go-"

Kaylee paused as she heard footsteps running outside towards the direction of the shuttle. Inara was about to ask what was going on when she, too, heard the footsteps. Kaylee walked carefully to the door and looked out. She jumped back as Zoe ran in. Kaylee had never the first mate so agitated. Her eyes were wide and she was out of breath. Kaylee was especially surprised though by the fact that Zoe had just _ran_ without there seeming to be a life threatening situation. The woman was always put together.

"Zoe! What's wrong?!" Kaylee exclaimed.

Zoe panted a little as she looked around. Her eyes took in Inara, who had slowly stood up and walked over, to Kaylee, who was standing in front of her with a concerned expression.

"I need help," Zoe began.

"How can I help?" Kaylee asked immediately.

"Actually... Umm... It's kinda Inara I'm needing," Zoe said with an apologetic look on her face.

"Oh, alright," Kaylee said with her eyes cast downward. "Do you want me to go?"

"Gorram it! No!" Zoe exclaimed, realizing immediately that she had hurt Kaylee. "You need to hear this, too, but I think Inara's the one who can help."

"How can I be of assistance?" Inara asked.

"I...I..." Zoe stuttered. Kaylee placed a calming hand on the first mate's shoulder. She was becoming very concerned about Zoe. This was not normal behavior. Zoe took a shuddering breath as she took in Kaylee's comfort. "I kissed Wash."

Kaylee whooped for joy and gave Zoe a large hug. She had been supporting that partnership since she had first seen the two together. The little smiles that Zoe tried to hide, the way Wash would always look at Zoe after a joke to see if she appreciated it, those two were just meant to be together.

Zoe glared at Kaylee. "This is not a good thing. I need to fix this!"

"What's there to fix?" Kaylee questioned, still giddy. "This is perfect!"

"No, it's not!" Zoe insisted. "What will the Captain say? Besides, I don't even like him."

The last part was added as more of an afterthought and Kaylee could tell that Zoe didn't really mean it, even if the first mate didn't realize that herself.

"Why don't we all sit?" Inara suggested. At the companion's calming words, they all moved over to sit on the couches. Inara poured warm tea for all of them. Zoe immediately grabbed hers and took a large gulp.

"Now Zoe," Inara began. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"We were both up on the bridge," Zoe told. "He was showing me some of the finer aspects of piloting. I was leaning over his chair when he cracked a joke. I can't remember what it was or even if it was funny, but he turned to look at me and I stopped thinking. His face was so close to mine and his eyes were full of laughter. I don't know why, but I leaned forward and kissed him. I pulled back and he was just as stunned as I was. I ran out of there and didn't look back. What have I done?"

Zoe out her head in her hands and Kaylee wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Nothing. You have done nothing wrong and have nothing to regret," Kaylee said immediately. Zoe looked at Inara for a different opinion.

"I agree with Kaylee," Inara said, nodding. "I have only been aboard this ship for a month, but I can already see the unique relationship you and Wash share."

"Go on! Give it a go!" Kaylee encouraged.

"How? I don't know what to say or how to act!" Zoe asked, distressed.

"Have you never been in a relationship before?" Kaylee asked.

"Nothing lasting," Zoe admitted. "And nothing since..."

She didn't need to finish her sentence. Both Kaylee and Inara knew that she was talking of the unification war.

"Honestly, just be yourself. And yes, I know how hard that sounds, but I'm sure that Wash will be his usual dorky self, so just go with the flow," Kaylee advised.

"Let Wash find you," Inara said. "I can tell that you're the type of woman that would commit to the relationship wholeheartedly. If he is as dedicated to making this work as you will be, let him come to you. If he's too shy, do you really want to be with a man too scared to talk to his partner?"

"Thank you," Zoe said with a sigh of relief. "I knew it was a good idea to come here."

There were footsteps outside of the shuttle once more and Mal poked his head through the door.

"Hey Zoe, Wash is lookin' for yah. I don't know what it's about, but it sounded urgent."

"Yes, Sir," Zoe responded immediately and the vulnerable Zoe that Kaylee and Inara had seen just a moment ago was gone. "If you see him again, tell him I'm at the kitchen."

Mal gave a short nod and exited. Zoe's confident demeanor immediately dropped as she turned to look at Kaylee and Inara once more.

"Are you sure I can do this? What if I screw up?"

"Remember, it's not your responsibility here," Inara reminded her. "Let Wash struggle through asking the question."

"Who knows?" Kaylee added. "It will probably give you a few good laughs later so remember every bit."

Zoe nodded once more and left the room. Inara and Kaylee looked at each other. Kaylee giggled and Inara gave a sly smirk. Both girls hurried from the room to get the best view.

**So the next couple chapters are going to be similar to this one where it's covering the events leading to the first episode of Firefly. I promise, I haven't forgotten about the Supernatural aspect of this, but there are a lot of characters and events happening soon so the main plot got shoved aside a bit for introductions, but it's coming back!**

**On another note, I am extremely disappointed with the amount of reviews for this story. One? That's it?! I give you guys nice, long chapters and nobody can give me the smallest amount of feedback? This is me getting on my knees and begging. Please please please give me some feedback here!**


	6. The Wedding

**Umm... Hi. So yeah, I'm late. The chapter was actually finished last night, but I was also pretty sick so I fell asleep before I could actually post it. I had my biggest response on this story on the last chapter so thank you everybody! Big thanks to drone84 and for favoriting and following and to Annie for reviewing! I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend, Moe, who this past weekend went and read all of my stories. She writes on archive of our own under the name KatsatheGraceling, so if you like Sherlock and James Bond, go check her out! There are a bunch of flashbacks in this chapter marked by _italics_. Enjoy!**

Crowley's base was a mess from wedding preparations. Kaylee was beyond excited. Wash and Zoe were finally getting married today.

* * *

_Zoe and Wash had gathered everybody in the kitchen. Everybody was looking around at the others trying to figure out what was going on. Jayne, the newest addition to the crew, was leaning back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest. Kaylee and Inara were sitting next to each other, whispering and wondering what this was about. Inara though that Zoe was pregnant while Kaylee believed it was an engagement. Mal was standing off to one side, his face neutral. While he liked everybody in the crew, he didn't approve of Zoe and Wash's relationship, mainly because he didn't see himself as first in Zoe's eyes anymore._

_"We have something to tell y'all," Zoe began._

_"We're getting married!" Wash finished._

_Kaylee jumped up from the table and pointed at Inara. "I knew it! You owe me one!"_

_Inara pulled a face at her as Zoe and Wash laughed._

_"Well congratulations and all that stuff," Jayne grumbled._

_Kaylee enveloped Zoe in a hug. "I called it! I knew you two would end up together!"_

_"Yes, you're quite the little oracle, mei-mei," Zoe said with a smile. "I was wondering something else as well. We're not planning anything big, but I was wondering if you'd be my maid-of-honor?"_

_"Me?" Kaylee asked shocked. She knew that they had become close over the past few months aboard Serenity, but to be asked this honor? "Of course!"_

_"May your future together be happy," Inara said with a nod towards Wash and hug for Zoe._

_Everybody turned to the last person in the room who hadn't spoken and offered their congratulations. Mal was observing the engaged couple carefully, keeping his neutral face intact._

_"Married, huh?" He asked._

_"Sorry, Mal, I probably shoulda asked you first if marriage was okay on your ship, but I'd give all this up if Zoe'd still marry me," Wash said, earning him a small smile from Zoe._

_"Mal, this was my choice as much as his," Zoe said quietly._

_Mal's face cleared immediately and a bright smile showed through. "Jeez, you'd think I was giving you the boot. 'Course you're okay here."_

_Zoe and Wash smiled in relief and began talking to Kaylee once again. Only Inara saw the pained expression on the Captain's face as he turned and left the room._

* * *

Kaylee turned a corner in the base and had to move quickly out of the way as somebody ran past her. Zoe and Wash had just been expecting something small at some out of the way church, but Zoe had confided in Inara and Kaylee one night that she wished for an old fashioned wedding. A couple of waves to Crowley later and he had set up a private ceremony in a little chapel a little ways from the base. He then offered to host reception at the base itself.

* * *

_"Hey, Crowley. What's up?" Kaylee asked with a grin when the demon's face popped up on her screen. It had been a month since Serenity had been in range of Persephone to send a wave. While Crowley could technically pop over any time he wished, they never wanted to risk him being caught on the ship._

_"It's been 300 years since that phrase and you still can't let it drop, can you, Amy?" Crowley complained, rolling his eyes._

_"It's been 50 years and you still can't let my name drop, can you, Crowley?" Kaylee mocked._

_"Touché," Crowley conceded. "So what's the wave about?"_

_"What, I can't call my favorite demon?" Kaylee asked with a mock pout._

_Crowley eyed her. "For anybody else, maybe, but with that lip sticking out like that, I know you want something."_

_Kaylee laughed. "Alright, I did want to ask a favor."_

_Crowley heaved a fake sigh. "And getting food for you isn't enough?"_

_Kaylee stuck her tongue out. "Actually, I was wondering what you know about weddings."_

_That subject change startled Crowley for a moment. "Amy, why didn't you tell me you met someone?"_

_Kaylee shuddered. "Ugh, no. You know I'm never getting into a relationship again. Only good thing that came out of my last one was Jacob. It's actually Zoe and Wash."_

_"So the love birds finally made it official," Crowley said with a smirk. "When's the date?"_

_"They don't know yet. Their hoping to actually have it on a planet in a real church and stuff, even though neither is very religious. I was hoping you could help."_

_Crowley raised an eyebrow. "You want me to help with a church?"_

_"Okay, that sounds a bit offensive when you put it that way," Kaylee admitted._

_"You don't say," Crowley muttered before sighing. "But, yes, I'll help. There's a little place around the corner from here actually. Very nice and quiet. I'll book something and you can have the reception here."_

_"Really?" Kaylee asked, surprised. Crowley had, for some reason, put a ballroom in the base, but it had never been used. At least, not for parties. Kaylee went in their all the time to do martial arts training._

_"Why not?" Crowley shrugged. "More than one person should get some use out of the room._

_"You're the best Crowley!" Kaylee exclaimed._

_"Of course I am," Crowley said with a smirk. "Would sometime next month work? That way it will coincide with your visit to Jacob and you don't randomly disappear from the ship while it's in the middle of space."_

_"Good idea," Kaylee said. "I'll let Zoe know. Thanks again!"_

* * *

Kaylee continued walking through the base. Without really meaning to, she had ended up in the ballroom, but it was completely changed from how she normally had it. All of her training equipment had been moved to another room. There were round tables with white tablecloths around the edge of the room, leaving the middle clear for dancing. She walked to the middle and slowly started to dance to a tune in her own head, imagining what her own wedding would've been like. She had never had a wedding before.

Jacob had been a complete accident, but a welcome one that she wouldn't change for the world. She had been dating a guy at the hospital she worked at. His name was David McLean. He was one of the sweetest guys she had ever met. He had brown hair and warm, brown eyes. She could feel herself falling for him a bit every day. She had never meant for more to happen than just dating and maybe marriage eventually. When she had discovered that she was pregnant, she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep her secret anymore as it would be obvious in the child.

* * *

_"David?" Amy asked hesitantly._

_Her boyfriend was sitting and reading in the living room of the house they shared. They had moved in together a couple months ago and Amy was adoring living together. She had never been as close to a human as she was now. The only slightly problematic thing was trying to keep her diet hidden, but if all went well in the next few minutes, that shouldn't be an issue anymore._

_When David heard her voice, he shut the book and beckoned her over. She sat down next to him on the love seat and he took her hand in his. "What's the matter, love?"_

_"I'm pregnant," Amy said quickly, getting it over with._

_David froze. Amy watched his eyes carefully. Emotions ran through them so quickly that she couldn't tell, but they settled on one: complete joy._

_"Oh my gosh, Amy. That's incredible!" He exclaimed. Amy gave a relieved laugh and sank into his embrace. Round one was successful._

_"Oh goodness. We're going to need to start preparing immediately. What are we going to tell my family? Should we get married?"_

_David continued rambling but Amy's mind had stopped on one question. Should we get married?_

_"Married?" Amy choked._

_David pause and look over at her before sprinting to the kitchen. He came back less than a minute later with something in his hand. He came and knelt before Amy who was still seated on the love seat._

_"I've been meaning to do this for a while," David began awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've had this for a long time, but I just never felt that it was a good time. But now is perfect."_

_His brown eyes slowly sought out Amy's. He opened the box in his hand to reveal a perfect golden band with three small diamonds. "Amy Pond, will you marry me?"_

_Amy squealed and tackled him in a hug which quickly turned into a passionate kiss. When they took a break for air, David laughed and pulled them back up onto the love seat._

_"I take it it's a yes?"_

_Amy sobered up quickly. In her relief of David taking the baby news so well and her ecstasy with the proposal, she had forgotten the second part of what she meant to tell him._

_"Umm, can my answer wait a minute?" She asked hesitantly. David's eyes immediately filled with hurt and she felt terrible. So she quickly backtracked. "I would love to marry you, David. Of course I would!"_

_"Then what's the problem?" David asked._

_"There's something you need to know abut me," Amy began._

_"What is it, love?"_

_"Oh this is going to sound terrible," Amy muttered before steeling herself. "Okay, you know all the legendary creatures? Vampires, werewolves, djinn?"_

_"Yeah," David answered, confused as to where this was going._

_"They aren't just myths, they're real."_

_David had enough sense to not laugh. He could see that she was being completely serious but, he was completely confused at the same time._

_"Amy, please tell me your just having a laugh," he said slowly._

_"David, I'm not joking. I'm a part of them," she admitted._

_"Amy, what are you trying to say?" He asked, frustrated._

_Amy sighed. She took both of her boyfriend's hands in her own and looked him strait in the eye. "David, I'm not human."_

_David wheeled back from her in shock, tripping over the corner of the couch and ending up on the floor._

_"Please don't be scared!" Amy begged. "I would never hurt you!"_

_"Wh... What are you?" David stuttered._

_"I'm a Kitsune," Amy explained gently. "We are not actually too different from humans, unlike some other species. The biggest difference is our diet."_

_At that she looked cautiously at David who was watching her with a guarded expression. "Which is...?"_

_"Myspeciesneedsthechemicalsfromthehumanpituitaryglandtosurvive," Amy said in one big rush._

_David gave her a confused look. "Huh?"_

_Amy took a deep breath and slowed down. "We eat the human pituitary glands. Many of my kind prefer fresh meat, but I value human life. That's why I work in the morgue at the hospital. I take what I need so nobody must be harmed."_

_David took a moment to consider this. "You look human."_

_Amy nearly burst out laughing. That was the last question she had expected after admitting to her diet._

_"We hide ourselves pretty well, not that there are many differences in the first place."_

_She held out her hand and watched David's eyes widen as her claws slowly extended from her hand._

_"This is the main physical feature that's different," she explained. "Sometimes when we are feeding or feel threatened, our eyes will flash yellow. We are naturally very fast and strong. All of this helps with the hunt."_

_David kept examining her carefully, making Amy squirm under his gaze. He slowly stood up and walked to where the ring box was sitting, forgotten on the couch. Amy resolved herself for him to walk out on her and their life together. She was utterly surprised when he sat next to her and opened the box once again._

_"Amy Pond. I don't know as much about you as I thought I did, but you still carry my child and I love you. Will you marry me?"_

* * *

Kaylee blinked her eyes against the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. David had died three months later in a car accident coming home from work. He had never gotten to meet Jacob. Her broken heart had harden against anyone ever entering her life from a relationship standpoint. After time, she had begun looking at any relationship she could've had with a tinge of disgust. Why would she put herself through that misery again? Perhaps that's why she felt the need to help others in their relationships, so they didn't go through her heartbreak.

She didn't realize that she had stopped dancing until applause reached her. She spun around to see Crowley standing in a corner, watching her.

"Thinking of weddings again, darling?" He asked softly.

Even though it was phrased as a simple question, Kaylee knew that he was asking if she was thinking of David.

"I'm okay," she said quietly. "I shouldn't be thinking of the past on a day like this."

"That's why I came looking for you, actually. Zoe's looking for you."

Kaylee brightened at the thought of the bride to be. "Is she in her room?"

"With the Companion," Crowley nodded and Kaylee hurried off.

* * *

The ceremony was beautiful. It was only the crew there along with a couple dozen people from Crowley's base. The crew had taken quite a few jobs there over the past months and so had become familiar with many of the people that worked there.

Crowley obviously didn't go to the wedding in the church, but he joined them for the reception.

Everything went off without a hitch. Kaylee sighed in delight as she watched Zoe and Wash sway together in the middle of the dance floor. People stood around the edge of the room, chatting, as music played from the speakers hidden around the room. Her guard was down, so it probably shouldn't have surprised her that someone had managed to sneak up behind her.

"Amy Pond"

It was only her five centuries of pretending to be somebody else that kept her from jumping like a cornered rabbit, although she did jump a bit at the voice. Behind her was a man in a brown trench coat. He had dark hair and stubble littered his chin.

"I'm sorry. You must have the wrong person," Kaylee lied smoothly.

"No, I do not," the man stated confidently. "My name is Castiel."

Kaylee breathed a little sigh of relief. She recognized the name Castiel from the stories Crowley had told her about the Winchesters, but she had never actually met the famous angel.

"What is it you want, angel?" Kaylee asked, letting him know that she recognized him.

Castiel tilted his head a bit at the acknowledgement. "I wished to inform you that you will have an important guest aboard your vessel soon."

Kaylee snorted. "Guest? Mal doesn't bring passengers. "

"He will," Castiel assured her. "There is one in particular, a girl, who must be protected at all costs."

"Why?" Kaylee asked. Perhaps it wasn't smart to question an angel, but she wasn't going to just follow orders blindly.

"I am afraid that I cannot tell you at this point. You will notice that this girl is very special as soon as you meet her. Protect her."

At these words, her gaze was diverted slightly against her will. When she was able to refocuses, she realize Castiel was gone.

**Phew, lots of things happening in that chapter! I know I didn't spend a lot of time on Jayne, but I just didn't feel like he and Kaylee would ever be that close. And we're finally getting back into some Supernatural stuff! Can anybody guess who the girl is(okay, that's obvious) or why she's so important?**

**I'm going out of town this weekend so there won't be a post on Sunday. If I get enough written on the plane, I might post a second chapter the Wednesday after. I'm always susceptible to reviews as bribes:P**

**Again, sorry about the lateness. I'll be back in a couple weeks!**


	7. The Gathering

**I'm back! I'd like to thank Flaca514 and Wood3h for following, KingofHell16 and DarkLord0012 for favoriting, and max artemis for doing both:) Also, BIG thank you to my beta Katsa-the-graceling for looking over everything and helping me with some ideas. Just saying, if you have anything in particular you'd like to see, let me know and I'll try to work it in! Now on to the story:D**

"So that's been my year," Kaylee finished. Jacob smiled at her.

"Sounds like you've been busy."

"It's been incredible! I love my crew and the adventures we have. Nothing ever goes according to plan."

"I can tell," Jacob smirked. "How you remember all of that is beyond me."

"I don't want to forget one second, but I'm afraid a perfect memory doesn't come with immortality," Kaylee lamented.

"Why don't you keep a journal or something?" Jacob suggested. "That way during your visits you can tell me everything."

"That sounds like a great idea," Kaylee grinned.

Mother and son looked up as Crowley entered the room.

"Is it that time already?" Kaylee sighed.

"I'm afraid so, Amy," Crowley grimaced. "Besides, people are going to start looking for you topside if you don't show up soon. I know at least Zoe wants to say goodbye before they go on their honeymoon."

"I guess I need to be going," Kaylee said while standing up. She gave her son one last hug.

"Don't forget about the journal," Jacob said with a grin.

"Got it," Kaylee replied while grabbing onto Crowley. She felt the familiar disorientation of teleportation and suddenly, she was back in her room at the base. And just in the nick of time, too, as Zoe burst through the door.

"Kaylee! Where have you been? I've been looking for you!"

Kaylee groaned inwardly. This was just what she had been hoping to avoid. "Sorry, Zoe. I was just going over some personal things."

"Well come on," Zoe said, impatiently. "We're just about to go."

She hooked onto Kaylee's arm and dragged her through the base onto the surface. There, the rest of the crew was waiting for her to say their goodbyes to Zoe and Wash for their honeymoon that had been Kaylee's wedding gift. She had arranged a private cabin on the nicer part of Persephone. Since she figured neither Zoe nor Wash were the types to go on a walk through the park, she made sure that there were some other things nearby such as an aviation museum for Wash and a gun range for Zoe, that is, if they ever chose to come out of the bedroom.

"Gorram it, girl, where have you been?" Jayne grumbled as Kaylee and Zoe arrived.

"None of your business," she snapped at the mercenary. If it had been any other crew member, she might have made an effort to be polite, but she had discovered fairly quickly that Jayne just didn't care one way or another.

"Cool it," Mal ordered. "I don't need no fightin' here."

Hugs went around and everybody said their farewells. The couple may only be leaving for a couple weeks, but to the crew, it was like cutting off a limb. After Zoe and Wash flew off, the crew stood around silently.

"Well, Captain, what are we gonna do now?" Kaylee asked, breaking the silence.

"We wait," Mal answered shortly.

'Can't wait to see how long that lasts," Kaylee thought sarcastically.

* * *

And Kaylee was right. Less than two days and practically everybody was raving to go. Personally, she was content to hang with Crowley and work on a few of his ships and Inara had a few clients to attend to, but Jayne, and especially Mal, were ready to go. If it weren't for the fact that they didn't have a pilot, they would've been out of there a week ago.

For Kaylee, this was just giving her time to muse over what Castiel had said. She had told Crowley almost immediately. He had rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't want you getting mixed up in angel business, but since he's sought you out, it doesn't look like you have much of a choice. At least Baby in a Trench Coat is one of the angels you can, mostly, trust."

Well didn't that fill her with confidence. She wasn't even sure when they were going to be taking guests aboard Serenity again. She was also wondering if it may be time to start revealing a little about who she was to the crew since she wasn't sure just what sort of trouble she may be getting in to. Just the fact that she was considering this option showed how close she had gotten to the others on the ship. Then again, it may just be so she could avoid any awkward questions later. For now, she would keep her secret.

"Gorram it! I can't do this no longer!" Mal moaned as he paced around the room. Inara and Kaylee, both sitting on the couch, smirked at each other.

"We coulda taken that wreckage that Crowley offered us," Kaylee suggested.

"The one with the stamped goods and without a decent pilot? No thanks," Mal snorted.

"Suit yourself," Kaylee shrugged.

"I'm just wantin' some action," Jayne grunted. His face lit up as he realized the double meaning of his words. "Either type."

Kaylee made a face and Inara shook her head.

"I would also like to be off soon," Inara commented. "I had forgotten how dull staying on one planet could be."

"How about planning our next course, Mal? That way you'd have something to do," Kaylee said.

"Well, the only job that Crowley has is _Yu Bun Duh_, I say we go look for work somewhere else. Maybe fly over to Boros and see is Richie has any jobs," Mal pondered. "Could even take a few passengers along the way to scrounge up some pay."

Kaylee's breath caught in her throat. Passengers? All ready? Looks like Castiel was right in knowing that Mal would be taking on passengers. She would need to be on the look out for this girl he had mentioned.

"Really? Since when?" Kaylee squealed, realizing that she had to keep up with her people-loving charade. If it had been any other time, she would've genuinely loved having new people on board, but she was terrified of this mission the angel had given her.

"Since now. And you'll be in charge of gettin' them to come on board. The day Zoe and Wash get back, we'll go get Serenity up and running again. We'll leave that night."

* * *

Honestly, Mal's reasoning for sending her out to collect passengers was not without base. Of all the crew, she was the most friendly towards complete strangers but still a good judge in character. She had put a lawn chair outside and was lounging in it with a rainbow parasol. The parasol had been a gift from Inara on her birthday, the date of which the companion had somehow weaseled out of her. She had seen so many different people running about their business. There had only been a couple even vaguely interested in hitching a ride so far, but she was still fairly confident that she could find a few.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw a darker skinned man with bushy, gray hair walking while pulling a cart behind him. From his clothes, she could tell that he was some sort of missionary or Shepherd, as they liked to call priest now a days. What really caught her attention, though, was that he was not examining the destinations, but the ships themselves.

"You're gonna come with us," Kaylee called out confidently.

The man looked startled. "Excuse me?"

"You like ships. You don't seem to be looking at the destinations. What you care about are the ships, and mine's the best," Kaylee said with a smile.

"She don't look like much," the man observed, examining the ship in front of him.

"She's a diamond in the rough," Kaylee replied. "I just redid the engines and everything. Have you ever sailed in a Firefly?"

"Long before you were crawling," the man said. Kaylee had to smirk internally at his assumption. "Not an aught three, though. Didn't have the extenders, tended to shake."

"Yeah, the one improvement they made to these ships. When they changed my- the original design, they took out a lot of good stuff that shoulda stayed in," Kaylee lamented, cursing herself for her slip up, although it didn't seem like the man had noticed. "So how come you don't care where you're going?"

"'Cause how you get there is the worthier part," the man said with a secret smile.

"Yep, definitely a Shepherd," Kaylee announced.

"That obvious, huh?" The Shepherd asked, looking embarrassed. "Yes, I'm a Shepherd from Southdown Abbey. Book, I'm called Book. Been out of the world for a spell. Like to walk it a while, maybe bring the word to them as need it told."

Kaylee hoped that there wouldn't be any problems between this man and the Captain. She wasn't particularly religious herself, even though she knew that there was a God out there somewhere. Somehow, the current Christians had nulled the part in the Winchester Gospels that said that God had ran away so they kept putting their faith in him.

"Well, I'm Kaylee. This is Serenity, and she's the smoothest ride from here to Boros for anyone who can pay," she paused, worried that she might have been a bit premature. "Can you pay, or…?"

Book gave a small chuckle. "Well, I've got a little cash, and, uh…"

He brought out a small wooden box and opened the lid. Inside was a deep red strawberry. If she had been human, just the sight probably would've made her mouth water, but only her normal food source brought the enjoyment that most humans found in sugar and sweetness and she wasn't due for another week. She played it off anyway.

"Dude, you've got yourself a spot."

_Dammit._ Her visit to Jacob had really screwed up her speech more than normal as the Shepherd gave her an odd look. They didn't even use the word 'dude' anymore.

"I mean, welcome aboard."

She quickly helped Book take his things to his room and was quickly back outside to hopefully get some more passengers.

The next person that approached her was not as friendly as the Shepherd. The young man was wearing a dark suit with small, round glasses that she doubted were of any use at all.

"Excuse me, miss, how much would it be if I were to purchase passage and bring a crate with me?" the man asked stiffly.

Kaylee did a quick calculation in her head and rattled off a number to the man based on what she thought Mal might ask. She didn't care for his shifty personality or his formal tone. She was a bit nervous that as soon as he figured out what they really did on the ship, he would be off to rat them out to the alliance without a second thought. Yet, there was something about him. He was nervous, however much he tried to play it off. It was almost like he was running. While she didn't want to purposely bring trouble onto the ship, especially not if this girl Castiel had mentioned was still to come, if the man was in trouble, they were actually a good ship for evading the law.

"What's your name?" Kaylee asked.

"Simon," the man said, not offering a second name.

"Well, I'm Kaylee. Welcome aboard Serenity."

"Thank you," Simon said. "Do you have someone who can pick up the package?"

"Sure thing. Jayne!" Kaylee yelled back into the cargo hold, starling Simon.

"Whadayah want!" Jayne shouted back, coming into view on one of the catwalks.

"Can you take the mule to go get this man's cargo?"

"Why do I have to be the one to do it?" he complained.

"Because Mal's talkin' to Crowley and I have to stay here. Now get your lazy butt out of here!"

With a bit more grumbling, Jayne complied. The minute the mule left, Kaylee turned to Simon and apologized.

"Sorry about him. He's rough, but he won't do anything to upset the Captain, at least not yet, so your cargo is safe."

"It's quite all right. Your Captain must be a great man to keep a brute like him in line," Simon observed.

"Yep. Mal's great," Kaylee said with a smile.

"What is his full name? Perhaps I have heard of him."

"I doubt it," Kaylee said with a laugh. "But it's Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity here."

"An interesting name, considering it was the location the worst battle in the Unification War," Simon said.

"I can tell that your high end and most likely supported unification, but do me a favor and don't mention that war at all in front of the Captain or Zoe, our first mate."

"No war talk. Got it," Simon said with a small smile, finally breaking his stiff mask. They continued talking for a minute before Kaylee needed to turn around to address another potential passenger and Jayne returned with Simon's crate.

This passenger was a lot easier for Kaylee as he was just a typical traveler wanting passage. She wasn't particularly paying attention to him as she accepted his money. She was too busy watching Simon's crate be loaded on board.

"Welcome aboard, Mr…" she began, then realized that she was so distracted, she had forgotten to ask his name.

"Dobson," the man answered, not looking too offended.

"Dobson!" she covered quickly.

"Thank you," he said before entering.

On the other side of the ramp, Jayne was unloading Simon's crate.

"Please be careful with that!" Simon called.

"Mal, this is Simon. Simon, this is our Captain," Kaylee introduced as Mal walked up the ramp.

"Captain Reynolds," Simon acknowledged with a nod.

"Welcome aboard," Mal said formally before turning to Kaylee. "Is this all we got?"

She gave a little nod and smile. She continued to be on lookout while Mal and Jayne. A large smile spread over her face as a hover car pulled up and dropped two people off. Kaylee ran out quickly and jumped on Zoe, enveloping her in a big hug.

"Nice to see you too, _mei-mei_," Zoe said with a laugh, disentangling herself from Kaylee's arms.

"It's great to see you two!" she exclaimed.

"It was only two weeks," Wash said with a laugh as Kaylee gave him a hug as well.

"Try being around a grounded Mal for two weeks," Kaylee complained. "Believe me, it would feel longer to you, too."

Both Zoe and Wash laughed.

"Well, I've got to go back to the bridge," Wash said. "Inara's gonna be here soon and I have to help dock her."

He hurried away and Zoe went to go greet Mal. Kaylee looked over the assembled crew and guest in the cargo bay. They would leave in a few short minutes and not one girl like Castiel had said. Maybe this was the wrong trip and she would come later. That had to be it.

"We got a full house, Captain," Zoe called down from the catwalk.

"Kaylee, I'm locking up," Mal called to her.

Kaylee took one last look outside before grabbing her chair and hurrying inside while the doors closed. "All aboard."

**What did you guys think? We're finally in the tv show! Yes, I know I messed with the timelines a bit, but this just fit the best. Any guesses about River? What about who's going to find out first, because I know who it's going to be! As always, Follow/Favorite and, of course, Review!**


	8. The Confrontation

**Hello everybody and welcome to the next chapter! Before we begin, I'd like to thank Madman with a Warehouse and Barrel-of-fun for following and Follower of Mania for both favoriting and following:) And also BIG thank you to my beta, KatsatheGraceling, who has been my biggest supporter. Love you, Moe! Another thing I want to note before getting started is that this chapter dives kind of deep into religion. I want to make something clear, nothing in here reflects my own personal views, only how I believe that Supernatural would come into play in this universe. And honestly, if you get offended easily over religious things, I think you need to find a different fandom. Now on to the story!**

After Mal gave his "Welcome aboard" speech, all of the new passengers went down to the hull to get any personal belongings they would need for the trip. Kaylee stood on the catwalk with Mal, observing the chaos. Book came up to her and passed her a small box- the strawberry- along with a bag of fresh produce that they would use to cook dinner together later. She grinned at him and he gave a small nod.

"Ah, the Ambassador graces us with her presence," Mal announced, causing Kaylee to spin around with a grin on her face.

"Hello, Mal," Inara greeted. "I see we have some new faces."

"And you've finally decided to come out of the ship and meet 'em," Kaylee said with a smile, looping her arm through Inara's and leading her over to the Shepherd. "Inara, this is Shepherd Book."

Kaylee could tell that Inara was a bit startled, but hid her surprise well. "I'd have to say this is the first time we've had a preacher on board."

"Well, I wasn't expecting to see a state official, either, Ambassador," Book greeted, taking Inara's hand.

Mal started to laugh and Kaylee and Inara glared at him.

"I'm missing something funny," Book said slowly, looking between the three crew members.

"Ambassador is Mal's way of saying-" Inara paused briefly at the audible slap of skin as Kaylee slammed her hand over Mal's mouth. "Companion."

"Gorram it, Kaylee," Mal grunted and shoved the smaller girl off of him. He turned to look at Book. "She's a whore, Shepherd."

"Mal!" Kaylee said in a reproachful tone. "Be nice!"

"How's business?" Mal asked, ignoring Kaylee. She rolled her eyes. Whenever Mal was around the Companion, he lost his head. While she didn't approve much of Inara's occupation either, at least she was civil. Plus, she had attempted to learn more about Inara personally, than trying to judge her solely on her job. Now, she could claim to know Inara best, probably out of everybody on the shuttle. Mal couldn't claim to having one conversation with her that didn't end in a fight, normally Mal's fault and normally about her job.

"None of yours," Inara replied quickly with a dangerous smile.

"She's pretty much our ambassador," Mal said, turning to Book, who was looking uncomfortable. "There's plenty of planets won't even let you dock without a decent Companion."

With fake concern, Mal suddenly looked between Inara and the Shepherd. "This… This won't be a problem for you, is it, Shepherd?"

"Well, I… I certainly…" Book hesitated.

"It's all right," Inara said with an understanding smile. "I mostly keep to myself."

She turned around and started to leave while Kaylee traveled behind, but she couldn't resist one last jab at Mal. "When I'm not whoring."

"Don't you want to meet the rest of the bunch?" Mal asked, fake friendship written on his face this time.

Inara paused on the stairs. "Why don't you make sure they want to meet me first?"

_Now _Mal started to look apologetic. Kaylee lingered a bit longer than she might have, long enough for Mal to glance at her. She shook her head, letting him know just how out of line he had been before following Inara back to her ship.

* * *

Later, Kaylee made her way to the kitchen with a crate holding the bag of vegetables and the box containing the sole strawberry. She put the crate down and carefully placed the strawberry in the back of the small fridge-like appliance they had. She would save it for somebody else, since she didn't care for it. None of the boys ever went into the kitchen so she didn't have to worry about them finding it. Zoe and Inara would most likely leave the box alone as it was not theirs.

She heard Shepherd Book enter the kitchen but did not acknowledge him until he was only a few feet away, although still did not turn around, sorting and cleaning the fresh food.

"I'm sorry about Mal," she said. She heard him jump slightly. "He was once a religious man, but after the war, he lost all faith. He will do anything to make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry to say. Just ignore him. We all do when he gets into a mood about a touchy subject, like you saw with Inara. She is a kind woman. You don't need to judge her based on her occupation."

"I'm afraid that I was taken by surprise," Book admitted. "I should not judge others before I have the chance to meet them, however poorly first impressions went."

"And that includes the Captain," Kaylee added.

"It's sad to see a man turn from God," the Shepherd sighed. Kaylee finally turned around to look at him.

"It's hard to put your faith in a being that seems to have abandoned you," she said after a moment.

"Yet, part of faith is believing that He will always remember you," Book countered.

There was another pause as they observed each other before Book cleared his throat. "If you do not mind me asking, are you a religious person?"

Kaylee turned back to the vegetables and started cutting them as she considered her answer. "I suppose you could say that I believe, but I don't have faith, if that makes sense."

"How so?" Book asked, coming beside her and beginning work on the herbs.

"How much do you know of the origins of your bible?" she asked instead.

Book laughed slightly. "I suppose a bit more than most."

"There are three sections of the most widely accepted Christian bible," Kaylee lectured, even though the Shepherd already knew this. He waited patiently for her to get to her point. "The old testament, the new testament, and the Winchester gospels. All three were written on Earth. The old testament was not written originally, but rather transferred by word of mouth by the Israelites. It was not written down until much later. The new testament came way later, dealing with Christ and the coming of the Messiah. And centuries after that came the Winchester gospels. The gospels were originally written by a man under the pseudonym, Carver Edlund, in the early 2000's, so the gospels say. The man claimed to be a prophet who was sent dreams by God. However, he did not realize this and published the books as a series, Supernatural. The series was discontinued, but was later brought back. However, Edlund disappeared. The series was finished anonymously, but it is thought that it was most likely Edlund still, as the writing styles were so similar. It wasn't until later still, when the largest church reformation since the Protestant Reformation, began that a pope found the Supernatural series. Through extensive research, the man found that all of the events in the series correlated with actual events that occurred during that time period. Because of the scientifically supported events that occurred in the series, the Pope moved for the book to be considered as holy material. However, many of the events that occurred in the book were taken out. The Winchester brothers dealt with so much more than just the angels and demons that the gospel currently mentions. They fought all sorts of monsters. You asked what I believed in. I believe that the Winchester gospels are the truth, but not the watered down version that is printed now. Part of that is believing that God ran away during the apocalypse. So you see, I believe, but I don't have faith."

They spent several minutes in silence as Book sorted through all of the information she had dumped on him.

"You know more than I would've thought about the bible," Book finally said.

"I spent years researching it," Kaylee admitted, which was technically true since for a few years, she had gone around and tracked her way through the Supernatural series, long after the Winchesters were dead, of course, so she wouldn't be discovered. She had met with some eye witnesses, many of whom were just kids at the time, but it was still fascinating to hear their perspective.

"I can tell," Book said with a bit of a laugh as he placed the first tray of seasoned tomatoes into their oven. "I have never read the original Winchester gospels, although I have always wanted to."

"Well if we ever see each other again, you need to come with me back to Persephone. My friend, Crowley, has the complete collection," Kaylee offered.

"That's an unfortunate name," Book observed.

"Why?"

"That's the name of the King of Hell in the Winchester gospels. I would've thought you'd have picked up on that," Book said in confusion.

Kaylee laughed. "The guy did end up mostly good in the end. Well, as good as a demon could ever get."

As they finished up the food, the rest of the crew and passengers began to file into the dining area. Everybody was soon seated and the food was being passed around along with many compliments for the cooks.

"Captain, you mind if I say grace?" Book asked.

"Only if you say it out loud," Mal replied and kept eating.

And that was it, the good mood was broken. Book glanced at Kaylee, remembering their conversation from earlier concerning that Captain. She grimaced at him and motioned that he go ahead and do what he wished. He lowered his head and several others followed him. Soon the clattering of cutlery began, but the awkward silence would not leave.

"You're a doctor, right?" Kaylee asked Simon, hoping to bring some conversation back.

Simon looked startled at being addressed. "Oh. Um, yes. Yes, I was a trauma surgeon on Osiris, in Capital City."

"Long way from here," Mal observed. Kaylee could see his dislike for the Alliance bubbling beneath the surface.

"You seem so young. To be a doctor," Kaylee cut in quickly before Mal could offend anybody.

"Yeah," Simon said uncomfortably. "You're pretty young to be a ship's mechanic."

"I'm just good with machines," Kaylee shrugged. "But being a _trauma surgeon_? That's saving lives everyday."

"Little Kaylee here just wishes you was a gynecologist," Jayne said with a laugh.

"And Jayne wishes you were a proctologist," Kaylee shot back. Everybody at the table looked at her in shock. She shrugged. "Hey, I'll play dirty right back."

Simon looked down with a red tinge to his cheeks as Jayne started laughing again. Zoe, who had just returned to the table from bringing Wash his food, gave her a proud smile. Mal was watching her with a curious expression on his face while Book just shook his head, but she could tell that he was glad she had defended herself instead of letting Jayne get the best of her.

* * *

After dinner, Kaylee helped clean up all of the dishes and scrape the few leftovers onto a tray. She was surprised when Book offered to take Inara's meal to her in her quarters, but figured that the man just wanted to have a private talk with the Companion. Five minutes later, she was alone in the kitchen as everybody else cleared out. Book entered once again, without a tray in his hands and a pensive expression on his face.

"Find what you were looking for?" Kaylee asked softly.

"An interesting conversation at least," Book admitted.

"Aren't those the only ones worth having?" Kaylee asked with a grin.

"I suppose," the Shepherd said with a slight chuckle. "Like our conversation earlier."

"Oh, no. You aren't going to try to get me to change my views, are you?" Kaylee asked with a slight whine in her voice, like he was setting a big chore in front of her, although she knew that her views would never change, not when she knew that they were true.

"Everybody's entitled to their own opinion," Book acknowledged. "And I'm not saying that there is one that is correct. Take your Companion, for example. I believe that the houses are Buddhist, are they not? What makes her opinion any less valuable than mine?"

"And does this understanding transfer to anything else?" Kaylee asked nonchalantly.

Book laughed. "If you want to know if my opinions of Miss Inara have changed, you only have to asked."

'All right then, Shepherd," Kaylee said with a grin. "What do you think of our fabulously dressed Companion?"

"She's not what I expected," Book admitted.

"You expected her to try to come on to everybody, didn't you?" Kaylee sighed. "What people don't seem to realize about Companions is that they choose their clientele. Inara does not go after every man she sees, nor does she allow herself to be used by others."

"And I can respect that, even if her occupation still disgusts me."

"It's her choice," Kaylee shrugged. "I pretty much had the same reaction as you, but as I got to know Inara better, I realized that I had judged her too quickly. I hope that you do not repeat my mistake."

With that, Kaylee dried her hands on a dirty cloth from her pocket covered in engine grease and left the room. She was making her way to the engine room when her sensitive ears picked up on shouting coming from the cargo bay. She quickly hurried towards that area and ran across Jayne who was exiting his bunk, the shouting was much louder here.

"What…?"

"I don't know," Kaylee said quickly and they hurried together towards the cargo bay. She turned the corner with Jayne right behind her. There was Dobson, holding a gun towards Mal and Simon with Book trying to get close to said man.

"Why's everybody…" Kaylee began, stepping out into the open, but all she could see was the bullet speeding towards her.

**Okay, I'm cruel. This chapter is a bit shorter than my others ones, but come on, that is great a great stopping place! No? Please don't kill me! Seriously though, I loved writing this ****chapter. On a completely different note, who saw the Supernatural premier?! I've got to say (and this is not really spoilers) I found it a bit slow. Hoping for a bit more action next episode! Until next Sunday, please Favorite/Follow and review review review!**


	9. The Discovery

**So did nobody like the last chapter? I didn't get any feedback at all, not even a fav/follow:( Please guys, I really love feedback, so give me some!**

For once in her life, Kaylee was glad to be a Kitsune. As soon as she saw the bullet speeding her way, she immediately spun as quickly as she could out of the way. Unfortunately, while Kitsune were fast, they weren't like Superman and could outrun a speeding bullet. So, while the bullet did avoid all of her major organs, it did scrape fairly deep right above her hip bone.

The room spun a bit as she fell to the ground. The wound wouldn't have been life threatening even to a human, but _Gorram it_, it still hurt like the devil. She was only vaguely aware of what was happening in the rest of the room as she immediately tore her clothes out of the way, she still remembered her medical training, after all. She found Simon suddenly next to her with Mal and Inara close behind.

"How do you feel?" Simon asked professionally, examining her wound.

"I'm fine," Kaylee grunted. "Can somebody help me to the infirmary?"

"Kaylee, I don't think we should be moving you," Mal said, concerned.

"I'll be fine, Mal," she gritted out through her teeth as she moved to stand. Even a normal Kitsune could survive practically any amount of blood loss, so she wasn't too worried about bleeding out on the short trip to the medical room. Simon immediately went to help support her, but was surprised by how stable Kaylee already was on her feet. Mal was still hovering worriedly and wouldn't move more than two feet from Kaylee.

"Damn it, Mal, go figure out that son of a bitch that shot me, then come worry like a mother hen! I'm not going anywhere," Kaylee nearly shouted. Everybody in the room that heard her gave her an odd look and she cursed herself as she realized her sentence was completely out of the time period. She must've been a bit more in shock than she had realized. But there was no time to worry about that now as she turned and hobbled from the room with Simon right behind her and Inara picking up the tail.

Once she got to the infirmary, she rummaged in one of the drawers until she found the emergency first aid kit. She pulled out a needle and cut a piece of thread.

"Here, let me," Simon offered.

"I've got it," Kaylee snapped. She cleaned the wound quickly and efficiently. She may have never worked in the actual hospital part during her time working the morgues on Earth-that-was, but she still had to complete some basic training anyway. She grabbed the rag from her pocket and put it between her teeth. Maybe not the most sanitary option considering the rag was covered in engine grease, but she couldn't care less at the moment. Biting down hard, she pushed the needle into her skin. The only sign of her pain was a small whimper that escaped from behind the rag. Simon watched in morbid fascination as Kaylee sewed herself back up. Inara was washing the bandages that Kaylee had used to mop up some of the blood camly, or at least, she was pretending to be calm. Kaylee couldn't tell from where she was sitting if she was actually calm or not.

Wash suddenly came over the intercom. "Captain, we've been hailed by a cruiser. Ordered to stay on course and dock for prisoner transfer."

Simon's eyes widened in absolute panic and sprinted from the room.

Kaylee groaned and stood up to go after him. Inara hurried over and tried to push Kaylee back onto the chair. "No. It's his problem. Let Mal decide what to do with him."

"Inara, I just got shot over whatever trouble he's in. I'll be damned if I don't figure out what."

With that, she pushed past the Companion and slowly walked back to the cargo bay where she found Mal and simon in a shouting match with the rest of the crew, minus Wash and Jayne (who she assumed was securing Dobson), watching them.

"Enough!" Kaylee shouted. Everybody in the room turned to stare at her.

"Kaylee, what are you doing up? You should be getting some rest," Mal admonished.

"I tried," Inara muttered. Kaylee glared at her before turning her attention to Simon who shrunk under her gaze.

"I have no idea who you are or what you did to upset the Alliance. However, nearly every single person on this ship has done something to upset the Alliance at some point or another. We help each other through the good and the bad. We are a family. And you have broken us up." She turned her glare at Mal. "We _will_ run from the Alliance, if only to give Simon the chance to explain _everything_ to us. If he does not deliver, I will _personally _take a shuttle and return to the Alliance cruiser to give him up."

The room was silent after Kaylee's speech. Mal, staring at her, slowly reached over and pressed the button for the intercom. "Wash, change course and go for hard burn. We're running.

"So," Mal started in an attempt to take back command. He paused briefly, but Kaylee didn't say anything, relinquishing her control of the room. He continued. "Why don't we figure out exactly what's going on here."

With that, the captain turned around and walked straight to the giant box that Simon had brought along with him.

"What are you…? No. No!" Simon stuttered when he saw where Mal was heading. He started to run over, but Jayne, who had just come back into the room, grabbed him and held onto him easily.

"Where's the Fed?" Mal asked.

"Secure," Jayne answered. "Shepherd's with him. Seems to think he's not safe alone with me."

Don't!" Simon yelled again as Mal nodded. He walked over to the box and twisted a few of the dials. A white cloud substance that Kaylee recognized as dry ice billowed from the top and down the sides.

"Well, let's see what a man like you has done to upset the Alliance, bad enough to get one of my crew shot," Mal said before kicking the lid off as Simon kept yelling.

Kaylee edge over to look into the box as Mal made a little noise of surprise. She peeked inside and froze. A _girl_. No, this couldn't be happening. She had seen every person come on the ship, watched for any girl that could be the one Castiel had talked about. She had been so relieved that her mission would not start this trip. But this girl had been hiding from them the whole time. If this girl was the one that the angel had spoken of, her job had just gotten a lot harder. She was pretty sure she had overstepped her bounds earlier when she had commanded the Captain to turn the ship around. She doubted he would be in any mood to grant favors at the moment.

"Kaylee, are you alright?" Inara asked, startling her.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kaylee said, shaking off her shock and tuning back into the conversation that had been happening around her just as the girl screamed and tumbled out of the box. Inara ran forward with her robe, but Simon got there first.

"River?" he tried, but the girl screamed again and avoided his touch. Simon grabbed onto her and forced her to look into his eyes. "River. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I'm here."

"Simon?" the girl, River, whimpered before beginning to cry. "Simon… They-they talk to me. They want me… They want me to talk…"

Kaylee felt her heart soften for the girl that had clearly been through a traumatic experience and had not come out unscathed.

"They're gone… They're gone. We're safe now. We're safe. We're safe. I'm here," Simon soothed.

"What the hell is this?" Mal asked, breaking the silence that had descended over the cargo bay.

"This is my sister," Simon told Mal, defiantly.

Inara moved forward once again and offered her robe. It was a struggle for Simon to try to cover his sister because she would not let go of his shirt, still sobbing softly, but he did accomplish it.

Kaylee moved forward. She couldn't help it. As a mother, seeing anybody under twenty and in pain tended to bring out a softer side. She knelt down beside Simon who glared at her, daring her to hurt his sister.

"River?" she tried. The girl's eyes snapped up to meet hers and she almost gasped out loud. It was like River was looking into her very soul, like no secret was safe from her.

"You're it," River whispered before fading into unconsciousness.

Simon looked at Kaylee in confusion. She shrugged. While what River had said might have something to do with her mission from Castiel, she still had no idea why River would know her.

"We should take her to the infirmary," Kaylee said softly. Simon nodded silently. Mal motioned Jayne over to pick up River and Simon reluctantly surrendered his sister to the man. Jayne carried River to the other room and set her down with much more gentleness than Kaylee had ever seen or even expected from the man. After that was done, Mal ordered everybody to the eating area, including Book who he sent Inara to fetch.

Once everyone was gathered at the table, Simon stood at the end of the room and began his story. His story about his sister was fascinating, but she really started paying attention when he described her rescue.

"For two years I couldn't get near her. Then one night, I was contacted by a man. He seemed a bit odd, but he promised that he could get my sister out. He didn't ask for anything in return either. When I questioned him, he just said that he didn't like what was going on and was trying to stop it. I didn't trust him at first, but after a little while, he had convinced me that he did know what he was doing."

"Did he give a name?" Kaylee interrupted.

"Yes. Castiel," Simon answered.

"Do you know this man, Kaylee?" Mal asked.

"Not really, but I think Crowley does," she answered. "If I'm thinking of the right person, he is a good man and will help anybody for the sake of helping them."

"Don't find many of those nowadays," Mal muttered before gesturing that Simon should continue.

"Anyways, he was able to help me get the proper identity to sneak into the base as an inspector for the project. It was weird, though. There were symbols, archaic symbols, painted everywhere. All he insisted was the I try to subtly try to make a scratch with a knife he gave me in every single one I come across and he would try to join me inside. Nearly everything went according to plan, for once, and Castiel joined us as we were making our escape. He stayed behind, fighting the guard so we could get out of the place. We made it back to the ship and River immediately had to go into cryo because of what they had done to her. Castiel somehow made it out of the base and joined us. We were dropped on Persephone with the advice to go find a ride on a Firefly because your crew, according to him, was the best in the 'verse."

Mal was obviously pleased at the compliment, but was still wary. "How did he know of us?"

"I don't know," Simon shrugged. "Maybe that Crowley guy Kaylee said?"

"What should we do with you?" Mal mused. "Cause you're bringing a heap of trouble on me and mine. You've already gotten my mechanic shot, who's next in your flight from the Alliance?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't think…" Simon began but was cut off by Mal.

"No, you didn't think!" Mal shouted in obvious agitation. "You rich boys. You don't think the rest of us have lives, too? You have put my ship and crew in danger and I don't generally plan for having two fugitives on board."

"How much does the Alliance know?" Zoe asked Wash.

"I can't say," Wash grimaced. "I killed the message pretty quick, so they might just have had our position."

"Or they might have personal profiles on each of us," Mal put in. "'Til that fed wakes up, we won't know."

"So what do we do now?" Jayne asked. Mal deliberated.

"We'll finish the flight to Boros," he decided. "We need a job and Richie may have one."

"What about us?" Simon asked.

"If my crew survives the rest of the flight to Boros, then we'll drop you off there and you will never come near us with your troubles again."

"Mal, we can't just leave them," Inara stated calmly. "They need help."

"We'll be fine," Simon said, clearly just happy that they weren't going to be thrown out into space.

"Yes?" Inara questioned, raising an eyebrow delicately. "With what money? I know that any person that is on the Alliance's watchlist would have his accounts frozen and I don't see you hauling around enough to survive more than a couple months. You would also not be wanting to stay in the same place. You'll always be on the run. Do you really think that you could live like that? No, you need a crew who knows your story and will help protect you."

"But that is _not _going to be us," Mal said firmly.

"Then I'm leaving with them," Inara said immediately.

"I'd leave, too," Kaylee spoke up.

"Kaylee, you were shot because of them!" Mal exclaimed.

"And I would gladly be shot again. This is just wrong and it has to stop. I'll help protect them in any way I have to," Kaylee said calmly. Mal stared at her for a moment before he stormed out of the room. Wash shook his head and exited the room as well, going back to the bridge with Zoe following. Jayne gave a grunt and followed Mal.

"Thank you, Kaylee, Inara," Simon said softly. "That means a lot to me, to us, that you would give up your lives here to help me and my sister."

"Nobody should be experimented on like an animal," Inara said, her disgust breaking through her normally serene facade. "While I may have supported unification, this is taking the power of the central government too far. If helping you and your sister helps make up for letting this happen in the first place, then I will gladly do anything to stop this abuse."

Inara smiled gently at Simon and left the room.

"I truly am sorry that you got shot," Simon apologized to Kaylee.

"No harm done," Kaylee said, waving off his concern. While she couldn't show him, she was already completely healed under the bandage that she put over the wound. "Glad to spill blood for a good cause. It's better than you being shot and your sister not having anybody."

"I've never seen anybody move so fast," Simon mused. "I thought that the bullet would've hit you in your stomach, but it only grazed your side."

"Just lucky, I guess," she shrugged. She had hoped that nobody would've picked up on that, but apparently the good doctor had.

"Anyways," Simon shrugged. "I should go check up on River."

With that, he left, leaving Kaylee and Book sitting at the table.

"You have been very strong today," Book observed as Kaylee sagged at the table.

"I've had to be," Kaylee said.

"Clearly," Book said, chuckling lightly. "I can't say that it's everyday that I see somebody get shot."

"I can't say so either," Kaylee said with a small smile. "Normally I'm not in the fighting, I prefer to hang off to the sides. Not to say that I can't take care of myself, just that violence isn't really my thing."

"Did you really stitch yourself up?" Book asked.

Kaylee shrugged again. She had done way too many revealing things today. She would be playing clean-up for weeks now. "Back on Persephone, there were two fields I was interested in, mechanical engineering and medicine. Completely different, yeah? Anyways, Crowley let me do some schooling for both before I eventually decided to go with full time mechanic."

"It's not just impressive that you know what to do, but to be able to do it on yourself," Book shook his head in disbelief. "That has to be nearly impossible."

Kaylee shrugged again. She really didn't like the fuss that was being kicked up over the stitches.

"Speaking of Crowley," Book said suddenly after a moment's silence. "You said that he knows this Castiel man that Simon was talking of?"

Now Kaylee was getting really uncomfortable. The Shepherd was being way too curious about everything today.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, struggling to keep her blase attitude so as not to raise even more suspicion.

"You seem to know a lot of people named after the people in the Winchester gospels," he observed.

'Dangerous Territory' flashed through her head. This was too close. She had to put this down now.

"I guess. Bible names do tend to be popular," she pointed out.

"But I've been thinking, Kaylee, about what you said about faith and believing, and if it could be possible," Book mused. Kaylee's breath started to quicken and she hoped against hope that he wouldn't make the connection. "Is it possible, and I'm most likely going to sound insane here, but is it possible that these people you know, happen to be the ones mentioned in the gospel?"

"Yes."

But it wasn't Kaylee that answered.

**Hehehe! I'm sorry, but cliffhangers are just too much fun to write:) Or, as my beta so lovingly says- "You and your gorram cliffhangers." So, we've got River out into the open now and Book is well on his way to figuring out who Kaylee is. Any guesses as to who said that last line? I'd love to hear them! As always, follow/favorite and please review!**


	10. The Revelation

**I'm not normally one to sound all whiny and needy, but this is a bit ridiculous. I have gotten zero response the last few chapters. So here's the deal, I will put out one more chapter next week, but unless somebody reviews, this story will be put on hiatus until I feel like somebody is actually reading it. Wow, that sounded stupidly selfish, but do you guys realize how unmotivating it is to know that people are reading your story but not responding? Anyways, thank you to my beta, Katsa-the-Graceling, for being my biggest support!**

_"Is it possible, and I'm most likely going to sound insane here, but is it possible that these people you know, happen to be the ones mentioned in the gospel?"_

_"Yes."_

_But it wasn't Kaylee that answered._

Both Kaylee and Book jumped and turned to where the voice came from.

"What...?" Book asked with a sharp intake of breath and backed away from the table.

"Castiel!" Kaylee hissed. "What are you doing here?"

The angel tilted his head. "I wished to discuss the mission I proposed to you."

"But not here!" Kaylee protested, still keeping her voice low. She didn't want anybody to come while Castiel was in full sight. She gestured towards Book. "You're going to give the poor man a heart attack!"

And it seemed like she might be right. Book was breathing heavily, shaking his head slowly. His hands were fumbling for a small book in his pocket, the Bible. With shaking hands, he opened the book to a page and read.

"'And he walked into the building. Not a bullet pierced him as the lightning continued outside. His clothes were messy, a suit and a brown trench coat, but he did not care. For such trivial matters do not concern an angel.'"

"Wonderful job, Castiel, you just blew everything," Kaylee snipped sarcastically.

"I do not see what I ruined. He was approaching the answer as it was," the angel said calmly.

"I wasn't going to tell him! It's too dangerous!" Kaylee said. At this point, she was having an extremely hard time keeping her voice down.

"So it's all true then?" Book asked. "You do know the... others of this world."

Kaylee turned slowly, reluctant to look the Shepherd in the eye. "I'm sorry I have lied, but my world can be dangerous, especially now. If you know what's best for you, you'd leave."

"But that is my decision to make," Book said firmly before softening. "And perhaps your friends here would like to know of the secret you keep."

"No!" Kaylee nearly shouted. "You have read the Winchester gospels, or at least the watered down version. The Bible is not a fairy tale. Everybody who gets involved in this mess gets hurt. I will not drag my friends into this!"

"I got dragged into it just now," Book pointed out.

"No, you did not," Kaylee seethed. "We are never going to talk of this again. This is my mission and my business. There is no need for you to get involved or for us to even speak of this again."

Kaylee turned her glare to Castiel who was watching silently. "Now, we are going to go somewhere private to discuss whatever you need."

"The man is trustworthy," the angel said suddenly. "You should have somebody here that knows."

"That is my decision to make," Kaylee hissed. "And I decided as soon as I signed up on this boat that nobody would know. I have kept my secret for so long now and I am fine with the solitude that it brings me. Crowley and Jacob are the only ones I need."

"I want to help," Book said sincerely.

"For the last time, no!" Kaylee shouted and ran from the room.

Castiel sighed. "Do not be offended. She has had a troubled life."

"She's so young to be involved in something this large," Book murmured.

That brought a chuckle out of the angel. "She's older than you."

Book looked startled. "What?!"

The angle chuckled again. "Maybe at one point you'll find out her story."

Castiel gave one last smile to Book before disappearing in a flutter of wings.

* * *

"Inara!" Mal called, entering the Companion's shuttle without a second thought only to stop short at seeing Simon already in there.

"What are you doing in my shuttle?" Inara asked with a dangerous hint to her voice.

"It's my shuttle. You rent it," Mal retorted.

"Then when I'm behind on the rent, you can enter unasked," Inara smirked. Simon ducked his head and bowed out of the room. "What do you want?"

"I was actually wondering 'bout Kaylee," Mal said hesitantly. "Have you really talked to her?"

"I imagine the events of the day have been traumatic," Inara said calmly, turning to fold a blanket that was draped over the back of a chair. "And you have not been the kindest either."

"It is that boy's gorram fault that she got shot," Mal pointed out, having to focus so as to not lose his temper all over again.

"Yes," Inara mused, deep in thought. "She was incredibly strong through the entire ordeal.

"At least Simon was able to patch her up okay," Mal murmured.

Inara looked at him in surprise. "He didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"You were not told?" Inara asked, incredulously. "She did everything herself, including stitching herself up. I've never seen anything like it."

"She did what?!" Mal nearly yelled. "She coulda made it worse!"

Inara shook her head. "No. She knew exactly what she was doing. I don't know how, or even why, she knows what she does, but I have learned that you do not question Kaylee about her secrets. She plays the game well."

"What game?" Mal asked. How had he missed all of this?

"She has lied about who she is since the first day I met her," Inara confided. "Everyone here believes that she is the innocent little girl from Persephone, but there is something deeper to her that I can't figure out."

"She fooled us all," Mal muttered.

"But perhaps I'm imagining something more sinister than what is," Inara said with a shake of her head. "Perhaps she fought in the war as well and just wishes to forget it all."

"Yes, maybe that's it," Mal said, a bit more cheerfully. He didn't want to think the worst of his mechanic.

"Whatever the case may be, Kaylee is a kind girl. She deserves her privacy and I will not intrude on our friendship to learn meaningless things."

* * *

"Amy."

Kaylee jumped up from her position curled up on the bed and faced Castiel who was watching her regretfully.

"I am sorry for revealing part of your secret before you were ready," the angel apologized.

"You were right, though," Kaylee sighed. "Shepherd Book was close to figuring out you and Crowley anyway."

"It would be good for you to have someone on your side here," Castiel pointed out again.

"Perhaps," Kaylee acknowledged. "I have lived so long in secrecy that having somebody outside of Crowley and my son knowing would be odd."

"You will need somebody to support any decision you make here so the rest of your crewmates will listen to you," Castiel said.

"How many decisions are you expecting me to have to make that go against my crew?" Kaylee asked.

"More than you may realize," Castiel said mysteriously.

Kaylee shook her head. "I'm not sure how possible that may be. Mal is probably already out for me, standing up to him twice. At least I had Inara with me the second time."

"Another that I believe could benefit you by knowing your secret," Castiel nodded.

Kaylee snorted. "Sure, I'll just announce to the entire ship my life story. Hi, my name is actually Amy Pond. I'm over 500 years old and can kill you at any moment because, guess what? Your brains just happen to be my normal food source. By the way, I'm on a mission from an angel and my best friend is a demon. Please trust me again in a thousand years because I'll still be around. Yep, I can see that going over well."

Castiel gave a little chuckle at Kaylee's rant. "You remind me of Dean Winchester sometimes."

Kaylee blinked in surprise. "I'm not sure if I should be happy or offended."

"When _I _say it, that is a compliment," Castiel assured her.

Kaylee sighed and shook her head. "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"The girl, River Tam, you've met her, I assume?" Castiel asked, immediately going serious.

"If by met, you mean having her scream at everybody and everything before falling unconscious, yes," Kaylee said with a grim expression.

Castiel narrowed his eyes in disgust. "She was to be the most important person of this era, but the Alliance broke her."

"What is her importance?" Kaylee asked.

Castiel sighed. "She was to be a prophet."

"What?!" Kaylee exploded. "I thought that was suppose to be impossible! Crowley told me. Metatron changed the tablets, there aren't supposed to be any prophets now. Even after you all took Heaven back, there weren't any more prophets. How can there suddenly be a new one if the word of God was changed?"

"You must understand, Amy," Castiel said in his gravelly voice. "None of us were expecting this either. To start off, River was never a normal girl. As I'm sure her brother has told you, she was always a brilliant child. But what nobody, not even her, understood is that she was psychic as well. Most assumed that she was just extremely intuitive, or that she was subconsciously putting things she observed together to understand the thoughts of others. She was the perfect choice to be a new prophet. The best are normally intune with the forces of the world before they ever receive holy assistance. However, we never looked at her much. She was just another psychic in a world where there would never be a new prophet."

Castiel got a far away look in his eye. "But everything changed very suddenly. Heaven is now ruled over a council of nine angels that are given their position by the rest. I am one of them, however reluctant I might be for ruling. We have meetings every few months to assess both the situation in heaven, which never quite recovered after Metatron, and the situation on Earth, or now the 'verse as most call it. We were in the middle of a meeting when a flash of light appeared in the middle of the table. There stood one of the tablets. But it wasn't just any of the tablets, it was the one that I had smashed to break Metatron's power. Not only was it whole, it had reverted back to the original, if the drawings Kevin had done were correct. We called in Joshua, heaven's speaker to God while he was still around. He admitted that God had been attempting to correct the issues with the tablets before rejuvenating, or as your generation might say, "juicing them up," to reactivate them."

"That's incredible," Kaylee muttered.

"We were ecstatic," Castiel said with a small smile. "God had not abandoned us as completely as we thought. He was not back, but he cared. When we received the list of possible prophets, there was only one name, River Tam. Going back to River, the Alliance had somehow learned of her, not only of her intelligence, but of her psychic abilities. How, I do not know. They offered her a position at the academy, but they took her as an experiment."

Castiel looked down at his hands. "It had been unanimously decided that I should be her protector, as I had been in contact with the last prophets before Metatron ended the line. Imagine my surprise to find that she was unreachable. I do not know if the Alliance had learned of her future as a prophet before or after her capture, but from what little intelligence I had been able to gain from the inside, they did know of her destiny at some point or another since they were interrogating her of the angel activities. They had warded the whole place against angels and even demons, as I had Crowley try to get in. He did not know what for, but quickly realized that the Alliance knew of our existence."

"So that's why he always warned me about the Alliance," Kaylee murmured. "I didn't care for them either, but he always seemed to know a bit more than what he was telling, saying that I would be experimented on."

"And he was right," Castiel told her gravely. "I believe that Mr. Tam told you of his rescue of his sister. It was not easy to arrange, especially without telling him what exactly he was dealing with, but we managed. I do believe that he thinks his sister was taken by crazy religious people in the Alliance."

Castiel's voice held a small amount of amusement at the thought but quickly became remorseful once again. "River delved deep within her brain to protect herself. I do not know if she will ever be the same again. Never the less, she was activated as prophet only two weeks ago. I'm sure that the random flashes of heavenly activities are not helping her already delicate state."

"How could Heaven do that to the poor girl?" Kaylee demanded. "She should've been allowed to heal, not thrown into this mess!"

"It was not our choice," Castiel said, shaking his head. "The council was partly chosen because we all care for the humans. We would not have allowed this to happen if we had the choice, even if it meant the word of God had to be delayed a while longer."

Kaylee took a deep breath. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you. I know from both the Winchester gospels and Crowley's stories how benevolent you are with the humans. I suppose I'm just frustrated that something like this could happen to an innocent girl."

"That is why she needs to be protected," Castiel said.

"Then put her in one of those angel safehouses," Kaylee demanded. "I don't know how much good me and my oblivious crew are going to be if the whole Alliance is after us."

"I can't do that," Castiel said, shaking his head. "It was agreed when the council was first formed that the safe houses could only be used with the consent of the whole council _and_ the consent of the person that has to stay there to prevent any incident like the one with Zachariah from occurring again. As River is in no condition to make that decision, we cannot do that, no matter how much we want to."

"That's stupid," Kaylee spit. "It's your own fault she's in this situation to begin with."

"If we break our own law, the rest of the angels are allowed to overthrow us. It was a clause insisted by all when we started considering a form of democracy. However peaceful Heaven is at the moment, there will always be protesters to the current rule. We cannot let them gain the upper hand."

"So you will sacrifice the mind of a young girl instead?!" Kaylee shouted.

Castiel fixed her with a steady gaze that made her want to shrink into the bed, but she held her ground. "You lived through the last Angel War, Amy, do you really want for that to happen again?"

"I suppose not," Kaylee sighed. "What was River suppose to be the prophet of anyways? Every one of them had a main purpose. I know that Chuck was the one who wrote the Winchester gospels that were mysteriously finished. Kevin was a prophet to translate the tablets. What was River's purpose?"

Castiel gave her a wry smile. "She was going to chronicle your life."

Kaylee was stunned into silence.

"Me?" she squeaked.

"Yes, you. Your involvement with the Winchesters, Crowley, the times that you have lived through those all make you a prime subject for a new gospel. They do come around every so often," Castiel said with a smirk.

"So that's why you chose _me_ to protect River," Kaylee said in understanding.

"Indeed," Castiel nodded.

Just then Mal came on over the intercom. _"This is the Captain. We're passing another ship. Looks to be R__eavers. From the size, probably a raiding party. Could be they're headed somewhere particular, could be they've already hit someone and they're full up. So everyone, stay calm. We try to run, they'll chase us. It's their way. We're holding course. We should be passing 'em in a minute, so we'll see what they do. Zoe, you come on up to the bridge."_

"Shield us," Kaylee demanded without a second thought. "We've got enough on our hands already, we don't need to deal with Reavers as well. It's the least you could do."

Castiel chuckled and nodded. Nothing was immediately apparent, but Kaylee could feel a tingling on her skin.

A few moments later, Mal came back on. _"They held course. We're in the clear."_

Kaylee breathed a sigh of relief. She trusted the angel to protect them, but that didn't mean that Reavers weren't a scary thought, exactly what she could be if she didn't have the restraint. She sighed and stood up.

"I should be getting back out there before they start to wonder where I am. Besides, I'd like to check up on River. I'm sure Simon is proficient medically, but maybe I can help more, knowing her condition."

"Of course," Castiel said, nodding. "I will leave you now. Until the next time, Amy."

"Not in front of people next time!" Kaylee warned him quickly.

Castiel chuckled. "I won't forget again."

He disappeared in a fluttering of wings. Kaylee climbed the ladder out of her bunk and made her way to the infirmary. River was still asleep when she reached the door, but as soon as she entered the room, the girl shot up, startling Kaylee. River's eyes flew around the room wildly until they settled on Kaylee.

"It's you," the girl said.

"It's me," Kaylee confirmed, believing that the girl was acknowledging the fact that Kaylee was suppose to be her focus.

"Simon…" River muttered, standing up slowly and moving towards the door.

"I can take you to Simon," Kaylee said gently before she felt a kick to the head. She flew to the ground, hitting her head against a table as she went down. Her head spun. No matter how resistant Kitsune were, two blows to the head were still not a good thing. It took her a moment to regain her senses and stand up. River was gone. She had no doubts as to who had kicked her and taken the girl. She ran as fast as _humanly_ possible to the cargo bay, where she heard fighting. She came upon the scene, with Simon holding a gun to Dobson. River was in a corner, shaking with fear.

Not wanting to waste time, she walked calmly into the room, giving off an aura of control that was obvious to everyone in the room.

"Simon, put down the gun before you hurt someone," Kaylee said in disgust.

"What? But…" Simon stuttered.

Kaylee leveled him a glare. "I have no intention of this man accomplishing his goal, but you have never fired a gun before and are more likely to do harm than good."

Reluctantly, Simon surrendered his gun to her. She turned to Dobson who was examining the new player in his game.

"How are you not concussed?" the man asked. "I kicked you pretty hard in the head, and I saw you hit the table."

"I've had worse injuries," Kaylee said with a glare.

"You have no idea the danger she presents," Dobson tried. "She could destroy everything."

"Oh, but I know everything," Kaylee smirked. "_Everything_."

Unseen by Simon or River, she let her eyes flash yellow, showing Dobson just how much she knew about what she was dealing with. Clearly he had just figured out the same thing as he gulped and his hands started shaking. He made a dash for the exit, but one quick aim and fire, and he was dead on the floor. Kaylee lowered the smoking gun and examined her work. A nice clean shot through the back of his head. Not bad for someone who hadn't practiced in a century or so.

At the sound of the gunshot, people came running. First out was Mal with Zoe and Jayne close behind. Inara peeked from over the railing to see the commotion. A groggy Book, who appeared to have been knocked out by Dobson, stumbled into the room.

"Kaylee, what happened?!"

**Longest chapter so far, hope you liked it! So what did you think of River and her purpose? Book now knows a bit more about Kaylee and you can see the crew starting to look at her a bit differently as well. I don't want next week to be my last, so please favorite/follow and review!**


	11. The Consequences

**Wow, so, umm, I'm so sorry for what I did last week. That was mean and cruel. I promise, I will never ask for anything like that again. Huge thank you to everyone who indulged in my insanity and left reviews: Mad Bobert, Barrel-of-fun, Drogonan, max artemis potter, and mourocf. Also thanks to 1392 for favoriting and VoviaVolcano for following. My beta, as always, is KatsatheGraceling, so go check her out on archive of our own! Here is the chapter for you guys. Again, thank you so, so much.**

_"Kaylee, what happened?!" _

Kaylee spun around, bringing the gun up immediately, pointing it at Jayne. "I don't know what happened, Captain, but Jayne was the last to see this man locked up."

"Put the gun down, _mei-mei_, before somebody gets hurt," Mal said cautiously. "Jayne, did you have something to do with this?"

Jayne, staring at the unmoving gun in Kaylee's hand, gulped. "I don't know, Mal. He offered me money, but I wasn't gonna take it."

Kaylee narrowed her eyes at the mercenary, but couldn't see any hint of a lie in his eyes. She slowly lowered the gun.

"Kaylee, please, can you give me the gun?" Mal asked.

Kaylee laughed harshly. "Why? You think I don't know how to hold a gun properly? Fire it properly? Because I've got news for you, I am more than apt with a gun. You don't get to tell me what to do."

Mal's nostrils flared. "You are still on my ship, Kaylee. Give the gun over."

"Yes, your Majesty," Kaylee sneered. With a mock bow, she exited the room. As soon as she was sure she was out of view of anyone, she sprinted to her bunk. She collapsed on her bed and began to sob.

_"What the hell had she done?"_ She hadn't killed anyone in so long, yet here she was: a cold, calculating killer. The stupid mission Castiel had given her was messing with her head. She had gotten so good at playing her part that she had forgotten just how unlike everybody else she was.

There was a knock on her door. Wiping her face, she reached over and hit a button to unlock the door. The panel swung in and Book slowly descended the ladder.

"Shepherd," Kaylee greeted coolly. She still wasn't comfortable knowing that Book knew even part of her secret.

"Kaylee, can I talk to you?" he asked quietly.

Kaylee sighed and motioned him over to sit on the bed next to her, the only comfortable place in the cramped space. Silently, he moved over and sat beside her. Before he could start, she began.

"I am sorry for how I have acted today. I have been under a lot of pressure lately."

"And I am sorry for pushing the matter earlier," Book apologized. "It is your secret and yours to keep."

Kaylee hesitated. "Actually… I talked to Castiel afterwards. And… Uh… It's true. I could use somebody here that knows."

Book blinked in surprise. "Kaylee, I… Uh, I don't know if I want to know."

Now it was Kaylee's turn to be surprised. "You don't?"

Book shook his head. "After your panic earlier, I sat down and I thought about everything that I knew, from both the Winchester gospels and what Castiel had said. Your life must be a terrible burden to bear."

"Only two people have ever truly known me," Kaylee admitted.

Book looked at her sadly. "A lonely life."

Kaylee shook her head. "I have never felt lonely. Having Crowley was always enough for me. Not until recently, that is. When Castiel first gave me the mission, I thought that I had a chance, but then I realized that there was nobody here that I could trust. There was nobody here that knew me. I have been playing a part, a part played so well that I started to believe that I was Kaylee Fyre, a mechanic from Persephone. But I'm not, and I never will be."

Book was silent for a moment. "Kaylee, I don't want to know everything, but if there is something specific that you need to tell someone about, I am here."

Kaylee grimaced. "There is no way to only tell part of the story without everything else coming out to. Either you'd have to be all the way in or all the way out."

Book sighed. "I'm just not ready yet, Kaylee, to know everything."

"It's fine," Kaylee said, blinking a few tears from her eyes. _What was the matter with her?_ Why was it suddenly a big deal that somebody _didn't _want to know her secret? Hadn't that been what she was trying to do all her life? So why did it hurt?

"Oh, _wong ba duhn_, Kaylee," Book grimaced, seeing the tears on her face.

"I'm sorry," Kaylee murmured. "I'm a total rollercoaster today."

"Rollercoaster?" Book asked.

"I guess they don't have those now," Kaylee said with a dry laugh. "With hovering cars, I guess you don't need speedy wheels on a track."

"Castiel was right. You are old," Book muttered. His expression quickly changed to horrified. "I don't mean you're _old_ I just mean…"

"It's okay," Kaylee smirked. "Exactly how much did Castiel tell you about my age?"

"Just that you were older than me," Book said meekly, hoping that Kaylee wouldn't get mad from his knowledge.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," Kaylee said assuredly.

"After the way you were with that gun earlier, I think every person in the gorram 'verse has a reason to be afraid."

"Oh gosh, was I really that bad?" Kaylee asked frantically.

"Kaylee, you were so cold that hell could've freezed over," Book said wryly.

"Shit," she muttered, putting her head in her hands. "I knew that I had gone bit far, but not passed the line."

"At least you stopped before it got further out of hand," Book grimaced. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Kaylee said, her small smirk lost in her hands. "But go ahead."

"You don't say… explicit things in Chinese. Why?"

Kaylee laughed, a real one. "Do they not say cursing now a days? I kind of lost track of the social norms at Crowley's base. Is it 'improper' to not cuss in Chinese?"

"I guess," Book shrugged. "It's kind of been normal for the past, oh, 200 years or so."

"Crap. I can't seem to do anything right today."

There was silence for a moment. "How old are you Kaylee?"

Kaylee looked surprised. "I thought you didn't want to know anything?"

"Is your age dangerous?"

"No, but the story behind it could be."

"Well, I'm not asking for the story," Book smirked.

"I'm over 500 years old," Kaylee admitted, not looking at Book.

Book blinked. "Okay. Not the answer I was expecting, but I'll go with it."

"You're not going to run?" Kaylee asked incredulously.

"I don't really have anywhere to run to," Book pointed out. "Besides, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think I could handle the answer."

Kaylee breathed a sigh of relief. "You have been very kind and understanding, Shepherd."

"It's my job, Kaylee. If you ever need anything, I'm here."

"Can I ask a favor?" Kaylee said hesitantly.

"Anything," Book promised.

"Could you keep an eye on me? When I'm with the crew, I mean," Kaylee asked. "I have slipped up more times than I care to admit. If you see me going too far, pull me back. I need to know that somebody can do that for me. Please."

"What the hell is going on with my crew?!" Mal shouted.

* * *

"I don't believe it's the crew so much as Kaylee," Zoe said serenely.

"I still can't believe she could do something like that," Wash muttered from his place in the pilot's seat. The group had met in the cockpit soon after the standoff in the cargo bay.

"I didn't even know she could shoot a gun," Mal admitted.

"Neither did I," Zoe agreed.

"She's no newbie," Wash said. "We all saw the shot. It was perfect, straight through the back of the head."

"And that's what I'm concerned abou'. How could we have not realized this?" Mal ranted. "It's one thing to not want to talk about your life, but it's another to be a perfect shot. And that whole stitching herself up thing? That's just gruesome. How twisted do you have to be to poke a needle into yourself when you have a perfectly good doctor right next to you?"

"I don't know, Sir. I thought I knew her," Zoe mourned.

"We all did," Wash assured her.

"So what are you going to do?" Zoe asked.

"What _can _I do is the better question," Mal sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"We'll be at Boros in a couple hours. You can decide then," Wash suggested. "I, for one, would like to know what Kaylee has to say for herself. There may be things that we do not know, but she has been with us for months. I forget all that she has done for us just with this new info."

"He has a point, Sir," Zoe agreed. "Just because we find out that Kaylee can shoot a gun or has some medical knowledge doesn't mean that she can't be the girl that we have known, as well."

"I'll have to talk to her," Mal decided. "I need to see if she's still the same or not."

"Why don't you have Inara speak to her?" Zoe suggested. "She knows how to get to people."

"I talked with her before the shootin'. She's apparently been trying for the past few months to get Kaylee's story. No luck," Mal grimaced.

"Wait, wait, wait," Wash said, sitting up straighter. "Ianra has known that something's been up for _months_?"

"According to her."

"_Shun Sheng Duh Gao Wahn_," Wash muttered, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Maybe this is a bit more serious than we realized," Zoe admitted.

"You think?" Mal asked sarcastically.

"No need to bite my head off, Sir," Zoe said stoically. "It's still not a wise move to make a decision before you know all the facts."

"But what if she doesn't give them?" Wash speculated.

Mal sent a glare towards his pilot. "If that happens, we'll figure things out then."

* * *

Kaylee walked slowly towards the infirmary, hoping against hope that she wouldn't run into any of the crew. She paused outside of the door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Simon called.

She pushed the door open and entered quietly.

"Oh, uh, hi Kaylee," Simon stuttered, frantically cleaning some of the counter off.

"Hi, Simon," Kaylee said softly. She looked at River on the bed. "How is she?"

"She's stable for now," he replied. "I just don't know what happened to her."

"Her mind is troubled," Kaylee murmured, watching River's eyes shift frantically under her eyelids.

"But why?" Simon muttered, twisting a few dials on one of the machines he had.

"At least she got out before they killed her," Kaylee said.

"I don't think they would've killed her," Simon disagreed. "Whatever they were doing, she was too valuable to their twisted experiment."

"Perhaps you're right," Kaylee shrugged, not wanting to give any of her knowledge away. While she was sure that Simon would do anything for his sister, looking at the evidence so far, she wasn't sure if he could handle all of the information she could give.

"By the way," Simon said, interrupting her inner monologue. "Castiel, that man who helped me rescue River, you know him, yes?"

"Like I said earlier, Crowley knows him better than I do," Kaylee shrugged, not liking where this line of questioning was going.

"You said the name earlier. Who is he?" Simon asked.

"He's my best friend, almost like a brother if I'm honest," Kaylee said, smiling a bit at the thought of the demon (and how screwed up that thought just sounded). "He might run a smuggling operation, but if you earn his trust, you will never meet a more loyal and dedicated soul than his."

"He's back on Persephone?" Simon asked.

"Yep, he's set up a base there. Normally I live with him, but I wanted to join this crew. Although I don't know how long Mal will let me stay," Kaylee mourned. "I haven't exactly been the best crew member the past couple days."

"Whether you stay or go, I would like to thank you for helping my sister," Simon said, avoiding commenting on Kaylee's possible departure. "You… You killed a man for us."

"I did what I thought I had to," Kaylee grimaced. "People should not be treated like lab rats. What the Alliance has done to you and your sister is _wrong_ and I will do my best to help to this from ever happening again."

"Thank you," Simon said again. "It means a lot."

"No problem," Kaylee shrugged.

"Well it's become my problem," Mal said, startling both Kaylee and Simon.

"Oh, hi Captain," Kaylee said immediately, slipping back into the persona she had had before.

Mal watched her carefully. "Wait outside for me, Kaylee. I'll talk to you in a moment."

"Yes, Sir," Kaylee said and exited quickly. She breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she was out the door. Maybe, just maybe, if she showed Mal enough respect he would let her stay. That was a big maybe. She _definitely_ couldn't reveal anything to Mal. He was so suspicious, she would be off the boat in a blink. She mused to herself as the muted voices of Mal and Simon could be heard through the walls of the infirmary. She looked up as Mal opened the door and exited into the hallway.

They stood, staring, each daring the other to say the first word.

"I'm sorry, Mal," Kaylee said, allowing Mal to take the 'boss' part. "I know that you probably have a lot of questions, but I'm going to tell you right now, there are a lot of parts to my life that are extremely private. I have been through a lot. I just wanted you to know before I get kicked off of Serenity that I would never harm any of the crew. I was only trying to protect River."

"Whoa, Kaylee, nothing is decided yet," Mal said, holding his hands up.

"It's not?" Kaylee asked, looking at Mal hopefully.

"No, not _yet_," Mal stressed. He sighed. "Kaylee, I don't want to believe the worst of you. I don't think that you would hurt us, but there is so much that you haven't told us. I respect your privacy, but you let us believe that you were a different person. You _deceived_ us. _How could you do something like that?_"

"I'm sorry, Mal," Kaylee looking down, refusing to let him see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Kaylee," Mal said, gently pulling her chin up. "I may not know you, but you were so _strong_ today. You had to make a tough choice. By taking that man's life, you helped protect an innocent girl. I can see it in your eyes now. You're asking yourself whether you made the right choice or not. You're worried what the rest of us will think of you. Kaylee, however differently we may see you, we will always remember who you were before."

He smirked. "And maybe, if what Inara tells me of your manipulation skills are true, maybe you can convince us that this was all a dream."

Kaylee laughed slightly through her tears. "I was never _that_ good. All I ever did was try to keep some of myself a secret."

"See, a bit of laughter will do you a heap of good," Mal said, holding Kaylee by the shoulders. He tried to ignore how Kaylee hadn't denied the jab about manipulation.

"Thank you, Mal," Kaylee said. She startled him by throwing herself into a hug. He was stiff for a moment, but eventually put his arms around her. He awkwardly patted her back as her sobs came back once more.

After standing in the hallway for a couple of moments, Kaylee slowly pulled back. She wiped her tears from her face and sighed.

"Thank you for being so kind, Mal."

"Anytime, Kaylee," he responded.

She gave a little smile before walking away. Mal let out a little breath he didn't realize he was holding. _Ta Ma Duh_. That was not how he was planning that conversation to go. But one look into those bright, teary eyes and he was gone. He didn't know if Kaylee had done that on purpose or if she was truly sorry for what she had put the crew through. Whatever the case was, it looked like Kaylee would be staying on with the crew for a while longer. He would, however, keep a closer eye on her. There was no telling what could happen next

**So? Finally this episode is finished! This chapter is very emotionally based without a lot of action, but I needed to show some of the reactions to what happened last chapter. Hope you liked it! Please, please, please review. It would mean a lot to me, especially after last week. Until next week:)**


	12. The Record

**I am so sorry! This weekend was hectic and this chapter was honestly not finished until half an hour ago. I'd like to thank D. for following and a huge thank you to my beta, KatsatheGraceling, for keeping my head on. Onto the story!**

Kaylee sighed. U-day on Serenity was always an interesting day, but Mal hadn't _quite_ gotten in his usual fight yet. For now, she tinkered quietly on the engine. At least she could be alone. They were trying to be subtle about it, but every person on the ship had an eye on her. It was getting a bit tiresome. The only person she felt like she could truly talk to at the moment was Shepherd Book. No, she had not told him everything, but if she said anything weird, he wouldn't question it. Even Inara and Zoe had been more closed off than before, although Inara tried to pretend that nothing was wrong.

She sighed again as the engine started up and the ship began to shake. The mayday call from Mal had been received. Three minutes later, the smooth flight of space travel began once the atmosphere had been breached. She wouldn't be bothered. Mal would be recounting his heroics to Wash with Zoe shaking her head at the exaggerations. Jayne would be in his bunk, taking care of his guns. Inara would be in her shuttle. Book was in the middle of his morning prayers. Simon was with River, who he was still keeping unconscious until he was positive that the cryo hadn't affected her physical health. Nobody would come to see her.

Her head shot up as she heard a scream from another part of the ship. As quickly as she dared, she hurried to the infirmary where she found Mal already there with Simon watching River carefully.

"Just an honest brawl between folks," Mal was saying when he caught sight of Kaylee. He looked away.

"The Pond is here," River muttered absentmindedly.

Kaylee jumped slightly. Her old name was Pond, but if River was as psychic as Castiel said, it was no surprise that she would know details about her past. So long as the girl did not tell the others explicitly, Kaylee's position would not be compromised.

"There ain't no pond 'round here, girly," Mal said, drying his hands.

"Not that pond, the _Pond_," River stressed.

"Yeah, yeah," Mal said. "Whatever the difference may be."

He pushed past Kaylee and walked out. She looked after the Captain mournfully. It would take a long time to mend that relationship. She shook her head and looked at the remaining occupants of the room.

"How are you, River?" she asked kindly.

"Minds are playgrounds," River said, walking over to a table. Kaylee wasn't sure what it was, but one moment, River was all, or at least mostly, there and the next, the girl was gone. Kaylee moved quickly and grabbed the hand River was about to sweep across the table. River twisted her hand out of Kaylee's grasp violently. Kaylee ducked a wild lash and suddenly River was backing up into a corner of the room, clutching her head.

"No! Ipsa est! Est special! Ego eam nocere posse! No. No. No!" River shouted.*

"River. River!" Simon tried to shout over her, getting as close as he dared.

Latin. River was speaking in Latin. Damn. Kaylee hadn't brushed up on her Latin in years. She _really_ should've went over it again once Castiel had come to her. _Everything_ Christianity related was in Latin for some reason, even though Rome wasn't the first Religious area. And if it wasn't in Latin, it would be in Greek, Egyptian or some other dead language that were a pain in the butt to practice and keep up with. She searched her mind for anything to say.

"Pax!" Kaylee tried. "Pax! Et non nocuerunt mihi."*

River, trembling slightly, slowly looked up at Kaylee. Kaylee smiled kindly. "You're okay here, little one."

Simon looked between them. "What did you say to her? What did she say?"

"Just that she was alright," Kaylee said breezily.

"So now I'm surrounded by two geniuses," Simon muttered. He reached a hand out towards River. His sister tentatively placed her hand in his. "Are you okay now, River?"

"Okay-satisfactory but not exceptionally or especially good," River said quietly as she let herself be slowly pulled off the ground.

"Simon, would it be okay if I had a moment alone with River?" Kaylee asked, softly.

"Umm, sure," Simon agreed hesitantly. "Is that okay, River?"

"The Pond will not hurt me," River said absentmindedly, picking up a medical tool and playing with it.

"Of course not, _mei-mei_," Simon agreed, although he did not realize the true meaning of 'Pond'. He gently removed the tool from River's hand. "I'll be right outside if you need anything."

He shot Kaylee a concerned look before exiting.

"Okay, River," Kaylee sighed. "I don't even know where to start."

"Start at the very beginning. A very good place to start," River said with a small smile.

Kaylee chuckled. "Well, Julie Andrews was always a bit of an idol to me. It's no surprise that of the works that made it to this time period, Sound of Music was one of them."

"So start," the girl said, sitting down on the chair in the center of the room and swinging her legs childishly.

"Well, maybe, we could start with you calling me by my normal name," Kaylee suggested.

"A name is a name," River shrugged.

"But it is the name I go my now. I am hiding here. Do you understand that, Sweetie?" Kaylee asked.

"Yes, hiding. Hiding keeps you safe. We are all hiding," River muttered.

"But I am hiding more than the others. Can you help protect me?" Kaylee asked gently.

"Protect the Pond, yes," River smiled. "Kaylee is the name you bear."

"Okay, good," Kaylee sighed. "Second thing, do you understand who you are?"

"I am the Record," River said simply.

"Very good, _mei-mei_," Kaylee encouraged, hoping the endearment would help River.

"The Record is broken," River said sadly.

"I'm sorry to have to ask this, River, but do you know why the Alliance wanted you?" Kaylee prodded. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but River began shaking violently.

"No!" the girl shouted, clutching her head. "No, you can't! I won't tell!"

Simon ran back into the room, but Kaylee got there first.

"River? You're safe, _mei-mei_, you're safe," Kaylee murmured, clutching the trembling girl closely and sinking down to the floor. Unconsciously, she began to sing a lullaby that she used to sing for Jacob when he was small.

"_Sun goes down and we are here, together._

_Fireflies glow like a thousand charms._

_Stay with me, and you can dream, forever._

_Right here in my arms."_

As she sang, River began to calm down. Simon was standing awkwardly, watching the pair.

"You're good at that," Simon said, quietly.

"Thank you. It may surprise you, but I was a mother at one point. Although I would appreciate you not telling the rest of the crew at the moment. I don't need to give them another reason for them to mistrust me."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Simon asked, sitting down next to Kaylee.

"He died too young," Kaylee said. "His name was Jacob."

"A good name," Simon nodded. "It must've been terrible."

"One of the reasons I don't normally talk about him," Kaylee sighed. "You just seem to be in a situation where you could use somebody who knows how to be a parent. It can't be easy going from siblings to having to watch out for River."

"I would do anything for her," Simon asserted.

"I don't doubt it," Kaylee said with a small chuckle. "River didn't deserve this, just like my son didn't deserve to die so young."

"It's nice to be able to talk to someone who understands," Simon said.

"I'm always here if you need me," Kaylee assured him. "The rest of the crew may not trust me at the moment, but every secret I keep is for either their protection or mine. I had hoped that you could be one who would understand that."

"Secrets keep people safe," Simon grimaced. "Unfortunately, not all people can see that."

"Especially not friends," Kaylee sighed. She looked down at River in her arms and saw that the girl had fallen asleep. She shifted the girl in her arms and stood up, carrying River.

"She's light," Kaylee said as explanation for Simon's surprised look. She placed River gently on the table and patted her hair.

"She looks like she's fifteen again when she's sleeping," Simon said softly, smiling down at his sister's peaceful face.

Kaylee placed a gentle hand on Simon's shoulder. "Maybe, one day, we'll see who she was."

"But will she ever be okay again?" Simon asked.

"We don't know. But we can hope."

* * *

Kaylee growled under her breath. She knew that the job from Niska had been a bad idea. Even _Crowley_ was a bit scared of the guy. Nothing good ever came out of working for that guy. Now Mal and Zoe were trapped in Paradiso and Jayne had been hurt. Wash had parked Serenity in a canyon until they could figure out what to do. Everybody was gathered in the infirmary. Mainly, it was Jayne and Wash arguing about whether to continue to the rendezvous or try to rescue Mal and Zoe. She was sitting next to River quietly on one of the side bunks while Simon was working quickly and efficiently on Jayne. Book observed the commotion from a corner. She honestly wasn't paying too much attention, just trying to keep herself from ripping Jayne's head off. If the man's obsession with violence didn't get him killed, she sure would do him the favor by his ego.

"Won't stop. Won't ever stop," River interrupted suddenly. "They'll just keep coming until they get back what you took. Two by two, hands of blue. Two by two, hands of blue."

"How's about you shut that crazy mouth? Is that a fun game?" Jayne snarled.

"Jayne Cobbs! You shut your mouth!" Kaylee snapped, pulling River into a hug. She didn't really have time to question what River had said, but she would tell Castiel as soon as the angel visited once again.

"Yes, mother," Jayne sneered, but continued. "Now I'm in ruttin' charge here, and I'm tellin' you how it works. We don't get the goods to Niska on time, he'll make meat pies out of the lot of us. And I ain't walkin' into that."

"For the last freakin' time, you are not in charge, Jayne!" Kaylee shouted. The whole room quieted and stared at her, scared that she would take charge in a frightening show of authority like she had from Mal before.

"Kaylee…" Book said quietly.

_"To far. To far. Don't take it to far,"_ she chanted in her head, thankful that Book had given her warning. "Look, Mal would never leave any of us behind."

"Besides," Book said, taking over from Kaylee. "If the Captain's not there to finish it, if Niska finds out he's being held, and may speak as to who hired him… I think we're better off being a little late."

Kaylee stood up from the bunk quietly and left the room. She obviously could not deal with these sort of situations where authority was required. Her Kitsune side _urged_ her to take control, to be the predator that she should be, but she, Kaylee, would make sure that would not happen. She had not spent the past five centuries learning control and building her life just so that everything could be ruined. Especially now, when it mattered the most. She wandered up to the bridge and sat in the copilot's seat, looking out at the canyon. The planet was just another dust bowl in the universe. Nothing special about it, but there were people who depended on this land and people who lived their lives here.

"You know, some say that we see everything clearest in space, that our minds aren't clouded by small matters, but sometimes, it's the small things that count in a life," Wash said, coming up behind Kaylee.

"When did you get so wise?" Kaylee said with a small grin.

"I don't know. When did you suddenly become in charge?" Wash sighed, sitting down in his chair.

"I'm not in charge," Kaylee said quickly.

"You're even fooling yourself," Wash chuckled. "Kaylee, even if you can't see it, every word that you say carries weight now. I don't know where you were hiding her, but the Kaylee we've been seeing is the one who has been running the ship, whether Mal wants to admit it or not."

"Nobody can get that sort of control on this ship," Kaylee denied, hoping that what she was saying was true.

"Kaylee, ever since you took control from Mal and protected Simon, everybody has been terrified that you will try to do something like that again."

"I never wanted that," Kaylee said quietly.

"But you got it, and now you will have to deal with the consequences of that," Wash sighed. "People don't just suddenly have that sort of aura that you have out of the blue. You've been hiding this commanding side of yourself. You do it so _well_, Kaylee, you hide _yourself_ so well, but secrets always come out in the end.

Kaylee didn't answer, but turned instead to the door where Jayne was hobbling in.

"That's it! We've waited long enough. Let's get this bird in the air."

Kaylee shot Wash a look, plainly saying that whatever authority she had didn't truly exist. His return expression was clearly a _"It's __Jayne__"_.

The same argument quickly broke out again between Wash and Jayne while Simon, who had followed Jayne in, was trying to get his patient to sit down. Book and Inara entered fairly close behind.

"You know what the chain of command is?" Jayne shouted. "It's the chain I go get and beat you with until you understand who's in ruttin' command here. Now we're finishing this deal, and then maybe maybe we'll come back for those morons who got themselves caught. You can't change that by getting all... bendy."

Everybody looked at him in confusion as he started breathing harder. He began to grab at nothing in front of him

"You've got the light.. from the console.. keep you, lift you up. They shine like… little angels…"

And before all of them, he collapsed to the floor.

"Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?" Wash asked.

"I told him to sit down," Simon shrugged.

"You doped him," Kaylee said with a small smirk. "Nice job."

"Thanks, I guess. It was suppose to kick in a good deal sooner. I just didn't feel comfortable with him in charge."

"None of us did," Kaylee assured the doctor. "We would never leave Mal and Zoe."

"They probably got pinched somewhere," Wash said.

"Well, we can't just waltz in there," Kaylee snipped.

"Someone respectable might be able to," Book suggested.

"What?" Inara asked as everybody turned to look at her.

* * *

"How did it go?" Kaylee asked as Inara exited her shuttle.

"She hit me," Mal complained. "What the..?"

"He was heavy," Kaylee shrugged, referring to Jayne, unconscious on the floor. She wasn't going to even try to make him more comfortable. The jerk was fine where he was.

"Captain, I've got the engine running, we're good to go," Wash said.

"We're not going," Mal said shortly.

"What changed your mind?" Kaylee asked with a feeling of dread. She _knew_ dealing with Niska wouldn't turn out well.

"Those people are dying," Zoe explained as she began to grab the cargo. "They need this medicine more than we need the money."

"Niska's not going to be happy," Book warned. "He's likely to shoot y'all on the spot."

"We'll take that chance," Mal said. "We'll just return the money. If he don't accept it, I guess we're not coming back."

"Are you going to gamble with _our _lives?" Inara asked, nodding at the ramp.

Mal spun around to see one of Niska's goons coming up the ramp.

"You didn't make the rendezvous," the large man said in a jumbled accent.

"Ran into a few complications," Mal said shortly. His stance clearly stating that he was ready for a fight.

"You were thinking of taking Mr. Niska's money and his property, maybe," the man said, sneering.

"Ah, interestingly, neither," Mal said, fending off the accusation. Kaylee shifted. She was not comfortable with this standoff. She couldn't let anybody get hurt. But at the same time, if she were to take control of the situation once more, Mal might kick her off the boat for good, creating a whole new set of problems.

"I don't understand," the man said.

"Yeah, look. Here's what it is. Deal's off. We changed our minds," Mal explained

"You entered into an arrangement with Mr. Niska. There is no mind changing."

"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong," Mal said with a nervous laugh. "We just... we can't take this job, so you just relax. We'll get you all the money Niska gave us up front, you return it to him, and we'll call it even."

"There is no even," the man said, threateningly.

"Is that right?" Mal asked.

Kaylee could see the man tensing before he moved. She grabbed a metal bar behind her and threw it at the knife sailing through the air towards Mal. The knife Niska's man had thrown was hit right out of the air. Guns were immediately pulled out and a fight began between the two groups. But she had not missed Mal's surprised and suspicious look when the knife had been stopped from hitting him. She lingered in the corner. If it looked like somebody would be killed, she would help, but this was not her fight. She could not take over the jobs of every person on this ship. It wouldn't be fair to make others feel as pointless as she knew Mal felt.

Less than a minute later, Mal was about to be taken down. Kaylee was just about to intervene when a loud shot rang out. The large man standing over Mal fell to the ground, clutching his leg. Mal's face jerked immediately up to the rafters where Jayne was holding a smoking gun, his jaw hanging unnaturally from the sedative.

"I was aiming for his head."

Kaylee let out a small chuckle. The fight was over. The rest of the crew began to tie Niska's men up, but Kaylee chose instead to walk back to the infirmary where River would still be resting. On the way, Mal caught her arm.

"That's strike two, Kaylee, for your gives when it comes to your weirdness," he muttered threateningly. "Get one more, and you'll be off of this boat."

He walked away, leaving Kaylee frozen, staring at his retreating back.

***She is the one! She is special! I cannot hurt her!**

****Peace! You have not hurt me.**

**Yes, I took a lullaby from a barbie movie...**

**So here we have it! Things are going to be changing for Kaylee very soon... What do I mean by that? You'll have to wait and see:) Again, I'm so sorry for how late this chapter is. I can't wait for Thanksgiving where I can sit down and knock out a good few chapters and not feel so behind! Remember, please favorite/follow and review!**


	13. The Invitation

**Welcome one and all to the next chapter of this story! I'd like to say right off that this chapter is shorter than normal, but I will be posting twice during Thanksgiving break! Thank you to Mandolarian Knight for following and to Chinagirl18 for favoriting and following. Big shout out to my beta, KatsatheGraceling, for keeping me sane. Love yah! And now, onto the story**

Kaylee grinned as she nearly sprinted to the front doors of the base. It had been too long.

"Van, Dexter," she greeted hurriedly at the door as she moved passed the guards. They shouted happy replies back to her, but she was already gone. She came to a door and pushed it open without a thought as to what could be behind.

"Crowley!"

The demon looked up from his desk and a grin spread across his face. "Amy! What are you doing here?"

"What, no 'how are you?'" Kaylee pouted. She went up to him and kissed him on the cheek, knowing that the demon was not a fan of hugs.

"My apologies, Darling," Crowley apologized with a mock bow as he stood up and led Kaylee to a private room off his office. "I just _never_ expected you to be anything less than _perfect_."

"Shut up!" Kaylee giggled. "Jeez, I've missed you."

"I actually get some silence around here now," Crowley teased. Kaylee punched him in the arm and he faked being hurt.

"You missed me too, you pushover," Kaylee laughed.

"But truly, Amy, what are you doing here?" Crowley asked.

"Well, Mal is on the lookout for a new job and decided to stop and refuel here," Kaylee explained. "We got nearly got tagged by the Alliance _again_ a bit ago so we're not trying to get into too much trouble."

"What happened?" Crowley sighed.

"It wasn't our fault!" Kaylee protested. "We were flying around when we came up on a wreck floating in space. To make a _very_ long story short, the ship had been attacked by Reavers. We found one survivor, but the madness was too much and he turned into a Reaver, as well. In the meantime, an Alliance ship had found us and thought that _we _had attacked the ship so we all got taken aboard. They also began to suspect that it was our ship that River and Simon had gotten away on."

Crowley nodded at the mention of the siblings. Kaylee had written a note and put it on the food tray that Crowley used to send all of Kaylee's… normal nourishment to her, so he knew all about their current predicament. "They were not caught, were they?"

"No, Simon's a genius," Kaylee said with a fond smirk. "He and River put on space suits and hung to the outside of the ship. Anyway, they were interviewing all of us, I pretty much just confused my person by saying a bunch of mechanical words that any halfway decent mechanic would know is a load of bull, when there was this emergency because the guy from before, the one who turned into the Reaver, was on the loose. Mal ended up saving the Alliance commander so they let us go."

"The idiotic Alliance still don't believe in Reavers, do they?" Crowley sighed.

"I don't know why," Kaylee grimaced. "It's not like they don't leave behind enough destruction."

"And how was River through this?" Crowley asked.

"Surprisingly calm," Kaylee answered. "She's been having so many nightmares lately that maybe she didn't realize that this wasn't one. Mal ended up letting me have a room right next to hers so I can get to her more easily when she wakes up in the middle of the night, shouting in Latin. She never says anything rational, but I'm scared that I'm just not putting things together properly. I think that she says everything for a reason, but I can't understand her."

"But she's alright for now," Crowley confirmed. "How about you and the rest of the crew. How are things there?"

"I'm still on my last warning from Mal," Kaylee mourned. "Things are going smoother between me and Wash, but Zoe is still watching me a bit more than I like, but she's always been the more suspicious one. Inara has been treating me normally, but again, you can tell she's watching still. Inara is the one I'm worried about. She has an interesting talent of making you not realize how much you've said until you've already said it. The other day, I was talking about languages and I nearly slipped that I had been to most countries on Earth-that-was! I mean, how on Earth does something like that almost come out?!"

"Sounds like she's an interesting character," Crowley chuckled. "I didn't really see much of her last time you all were here for the wedding. Speaking of, do you want me to arrange for some rooms here?"

"I don't think we're staying that long," Kaylee said, apologetically. "But I'll give the offer."

"If Mal wants to come by here, I've got a job for him if he wants it," Crowley offered.

"I'll let him know," Kaylee assured him. "I better get going. They knew that I was going to come say hi, but but they'll be expecting me back soon. And if there is one thing I'm doing lately, it's fulfilling expectations. I've got to run by my room on the way out to grab a few things. Maybe sometime later I can bring River and Simon over and you can meet them."

"Sounds good, Amy," Crowley smiled. They stood up and he kissed her cheek. "Don't be a stranger, okay?"

"I'll try," Kaylee smiled. She left the room and followed the familiar track back to her room. It was exactly the same as the last time she had been there. She grabbed a few tools that she wanted along with a photograph album that she had semi kept up with over the _many_ years. Most of the pictures were of her and Jacob and Crowley or of places that she had visited while she was touring around Earth-that-was. She figured that Book might like to see it. He now knew that she had been a mother at one point too in addition to her age, but he was standing firm on his point of not wanting to know much. She had actually been spending a good amount of time with Simon, too. He hadn't been around her before to feel betrayed now when she started behaving differently. And, once he got past his awkward phase, he was actually quite charming.

She left with her few things in a bag. It was just a short walk back the _Serenity_ since Crowley had let them land in one of his reserved spaces. She stopped by her new room and put her things down before going to find Mal. A few short minutes later, she found him exiting Inara's shuttle, muttering under his breath.

"Captain!" she called to get his attention as she walked up.

"What is it, Kaylee?" he asked wearily.

Kaylee had to stop the grimace that wanted to cross her face at his tone. "I just wanted to let you know that Crowley has a job for you, if you want it."

"I'll think about it," he said noncommittally.

"Mal!" she called once again as he started to walk off. He stopped, but didn't turn around. She continued on softly. "Please don't let my secrets be the undoing of your… business. Crowley will always give you a fair job, and right now, you need one."

From what Kaylee could see, his angry shoulders relaxed slightly, although he still didn't face her. "I'll be there in half an hour."

She sighed as he walked off. It would seem that she might never gain his trust again.

* * *

She truly didn't know how on Earth she had come to be here. When Mal had come to her, saying for her to get into her best dress, she hadn't been expecting him to drag her along to a fancy party.

She was completely out of dress when it came to this party. How was she to know that fashion had receded ten centuries? Her dress was a beautiful turquoise color with purple flowers. While it would've worked on the red carpet in her time, it stood out of place with the flowing dresses that were apparently the style now.

She stood in the corner of the room, watching the girls twirl and the men spin. Several men had asked to dance with her, but she had turned them all down. Mal was off talking to the man that he was apparently going to get the job from. She really wasn't sure why Mal had chosen her to go with him. Okay, she did, but it still didn't make sense. Zoe was married, River was crazy, Inara was otherwise engaged (at the same party, nonetheless), so that left her to play the companion.

She watched Inara and her partner walk over to Mal before Inara and Mal left the group to dance. Kaylee smiled as she watched the two of them together. They couldn't seem to realize that all their arguments were just hiding their feelings. She continued to watch them as Inara's man for the night went over and barged in. She hurried over as she saw the tension rising and arrived just in time to watch Mal slug the other man in the face.

"There has been a challenge!" one of the challenges gentleman announced.

Kaylee cursed under her breath. No matter how out of touch she had become with the culture now a days, she knew what a challenge meant. Like the fashion, the way for upper class men to solve a problem had receded a few centuries as well. She watched Mal fumble as he realized that this wasn't a gun or fist fight, but a _sword duel_.

"You'll be put up in lodgings for the night, so you don't disappear. I wouldn't blame you, incidentally. Wing may be a spoiled dandy, but he's an expert swordsman. He's killed a dozen men with a longblade," the man who Mal had been attempting to make deal with said.

"I'll second him," Kaylee said immediately. "If that man has an issue fighting a girl, he can get over it."

"Young lady, I don't believe you know what you're getting yourself into," the man said.

"Believe me, I do," Kaylee said seriously. "I'm afraid I don't know your name, nor the man that I will most likely be fighting."

"I'm called Harrow," the man said. "And the man that your friend foolishly challenged is called Atherton.

"Wait, wait, wait! What does a second mean?" Mal asked.

Kaylee glared at him. "It means that if your stupid butt gets killed, I get avenge you."

She stormed off. She was not bound by the rules to stay, only Mal was, so she hurried back to the base and informed Crowley of what was happening. He assured her that he would inform the crew of what was happening. He also graciously handed over a couple of his best swords, forged (literally) in the fires of Hell. She thanked him and hurried back to the rooms where Mal was staying.

"Come on," Kaylee said once she broke through the door. She had managed to sneak around the guard, but she wasn't sure if anybody was going to walk in.

"Kaylee! What are you doing here?" Mal questioned. He had one of the offered swords in his hands and was practicing on a pillar.

"I'm here to help you, jerk," Kaylee sneered. "I can't _believe_ how much of an idiot you were! Sword fighting is _not_ as easy as you seem to think. I'm going to try my best to prepare you for what is awaiting you tomorrow."

**So how was it? There is a link to Kaylee's dress on my profile page (or you can just look up Jewel Staite at the Serenity premier). Also, I have a poll on my profile for whether Kaylee and Simon should get together or not. Please go vote! I think that those are all my notes for this chapter. I'll see all of you next week!**


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